Until 1997, there existed a strong and healthy cottage industry operating informal day-care. This provided a small but regular income to mothers willing to look after other people's children, and an inexpensive convenience to parents who needed to work.
It not only provided an easy form of self-employment for thousands of women across the country, but it also permitted other people to obtain employment who would otherwise have been unable to afford the costs of a nursery.
This has been especially significant for people whose only real employment options are for low-paid work. Often, the cost of formal child-minding is so high that getting a job is impractical, aggravating the benefit trap.
Repealing Labour's legislation, returning the law to 1997 standards and permitting pre-1997 informal child-minding arrangements to resume, not only enhances personal liberty (should appeal to Liberals) but should result in thousands of people being able to come off benefits and earn a living (should appeal to Conservatives).