It cooled any enthusiasm its readers might have had, saying they would undermine the family and supplant parental authority with that of the State.
The Independent was more welcoming, though it too warned that "Kelly hours" ought not to be another excuse for parents to spend less time with their children. It also worried that for children "unhappy or bullied at school", extended hours "could become a torment".
The Guardian was cheerfully optimistic, except that it thought the scheme was probably under-funded. But one of the paper's regular columnists, Zoe Williams, was quite opposed. "It prioritises in this order: businesses first; then the employers of the parents; then the parents themselves, who don't have to rush home; and last of all, the kids."
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