Speaking at Labour’s special conference in Glasgow yesterday, Prime Minister Tony Blair said that paid Paternity Leave would be given to first-time fathers and illiterate adults would have to agree to reading and writing lessons if they wanted benefits whilst looking for work.

The paternity leave plans would pay first-time fathers £60.20 a week from state funds – the same amount paid for maternity leave. Labout party officials later hinted that the plans may go beyond the two weeks outlined.

The plans have already been muted in the green consultation paper Work and Parents: Competitiveness and Choice, whose consultation period is due to end on March 7.

In speaking of plans to give illiterate jobseekers reading and writing lessons, Mr Blair said that a second term in office would concentrate on stopping large parts of the nation’s talent being wasted by poor educational opportunities.