SCOTTISH Labour leader Jim Murphy has come face to face with a baby as he launched a Bill that aims to give children of prisoners the legal right to additional classroom support.

Taylor Paton, 17 months, and his father, former inmate Kevin Paton, from Perth, met Mr Murphy at a Barnardo's office in Edinburgh.

The MP's proposals aim to help ensure the devastating impact of having a parent in jail is recognised.

The Labour proposals would also see the introduction of child and family impact assessments, which would be completed after a parent is sentenced, as well as ensuring schools take account of a child's situation.

The proposed law, introduced at Holyrood by MSP Mary Fee, has won the backing of charities including Barnardo's and the NSPCC.

Mr Murphy said: "For too long our justice system has not offered the support needed to families affected by imprisonment, the effects on a child who has a parent in jail can be devastating, and set them on a path which denies them a fair chance in life.

"We need to be smart on crime. People who commit offences should be punished, but too often their families are victims of that circumstance. "Today we have said that that cannot be how we do things in 21st century Scotland. This Bill shows that we will do things differently in Scotland."

Up to 27,000 children in Scotland have a parent in prison. One in three will develop physical and mental health problems.