The expansion of free childcare has been a Tory-fied mess of a bright Labour idea | Polly Toynbee

On a visit to a combined nursery and primary school, I saw how early years provision can really be transformedPanic and a screeching U-turn. The prime minister dismissed claims there were too few nursery places for every two-year-old in England (with working parents) on 1 April, the day that entitlement to 15 hours a week began. He even said: “Staffing levels have increased and more people are at work in the sector and the number of places has also increased over the past year.” Outs