You might be forgiven for dismissing it as a sick joke. The economy is teetering on the edge, businesses are going bust by the bucketload, and the predictions are for another 350,000 unemployed – but Gordon Brown has declared he’ll legislate against child poverty. To quote the prime minister: ‘We will in law make it the duty of government by 2020 to eradicate child poverty in this country.’ Does he actually mean it? Will the next two or three governments be legally obliged to meet this commitment? If so, by what definition and how will it be enforced?