A small gain in the last week has been the addition of the words "Young People" in the minister's title. This is more than semantics. Few 17-year-olds would have seen a children's minister as their own. But there remains a risk that the centre of gravity for policy will be pre-adolescent. The cry of "early intervention" points that way; the children's lobby is better organised than the youth lobby; more cynically, Labour is increasingly worried about retaining women's votes. Besides, we all know that children are more winsome than surly adolescents and few politicians want to identify with youth as a cause. It will be important that the forthcoming green paper on children at risk properly reflects youth needs.
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