The Home Office has finally promised to examine ways of closing a legal loophole which lets parents and guardians get away with child murder.

Kemp Town MP Des Turner won a guarantee from Home Office minister Hilary Benn that the Government would consider new legislation, including a demand by The Argus for changes to the Criminal Justice Bill.

The newspaper has long campaigned for a change in the law.

Last month we published an open letter to Home Secretary David Blunkett asking him when he intended to end the injustice that protects parents and guardians who murder babies and toddlers in their care.

In the letter, the Home Secretary was reminded how one Brighton couple walked free from court after the deaths of three baby boys because it could not be proved who was responsible.

A Portslade couple left 54 injuries on the body of a four-year-old boy, including bite marks, before he died. They too escaped murder charges.

During the Criminal Justice Bill's Second Reading in the House of Commons last night, Dr Turner pointed out the legislation, as it stands, would do nothing to tackle the problem of parents who refuse to reveal how their child died, thereby escaping justice.

The Labour MP said: "More than 200 children under two are either killed or seriously injured every year in their homes, yet only about a quarter of those cases result in prosecution of any kind."

Mr Benn said he was "happy to assure" Dr Turner he would consider the change when the Bill goes through its committee stage, early next year.

We first made the call for change, which is backed by MPs, Sussex Police, Brighton and Hove councillors, the NSPCC and families of murdered children, three years ago.

The Government has so far failed to act but the introduction of the Criminal Justice Bill raised fresh hopes it could be used to push the change through.

Dr Turner has also tabled a Commons Early Day Motion which calls for the law to be changed "at the earliest possible opportunity, preferably in the Criminal Justice Bill".

The motion, signed by six MPs, including former health secretary Frank Dobson, states those responsible for killing small children should face charges which "reflect the gravity of the act".