The children's minister has insisted the state does have a role to play in family life.

In an interview with the Telegraph on Friday Margaret Hodge, whom critics describe as a key culprit in extending the "nanny state", said it was acceptable for the government to intervene and in many cases parents want help.

In a move designed to confront criticism of policies such as the restricting of smacking and smoking, she argued the authorities can "enable families to do the best for their children".

"You take home this little bundle of joy from the hospital and you don't know where to start. People want the state to help them," she said.

"There is a proper role for the state in helping parents in the home," she added.

"In the past, people got support from the extended family, now they are looking elsewhere. [The state can be] a force for good, enabling families to do the best for their children."

Care

Hodge argued voters expect the government to "pick up the pieces" when children are abused and neglected but said parents must play the central role.

"If children are taken into care then we have failed, the state has to go in at the beginning and help," the minister said.

"There are always tensions between the liberty of the individual and the wider interests of society but the state has a role," she added.

She also claimed that quality, rather than quantity, of time spent with children was the key factor in good parenting.

"If you are just watching the telly or chatting on the mobile phone rather than talking to your baby then your child is not going to prosper," she said.

And she drew back from endorsing Tony Blair's attack on "sixties liberal values" but in her own revision of liberal thinking insisted marriage was the best backdrop for children.

"I am a child of the sixties, there were lots of freedoms given to me that I relished - women going out to work, the contraceptive pill - but parents have to set boundaries. We need to support parents in setting the boundaries," Hodge said.

"Stability really matters for kids and people are more likely to stay together if they are married," she added.