Yes, I too was one of those told as a child to "think of the starving people in India" and eat up all the food left on my plate, says Dominic Lawson. Now, into this domestic moral minefield steps our Prime Minister. Gordon Brown has said that we need to do more to cut our food waste. Supermarkets will be urged to drop 'three for two' deals on food that encourages shoppers into bulk-buying more than they need." Isn't this truly extraordinary? At a time of sharply rising food prices, when the least well-off are desperately looking for bargains, and trying to make the housekeeping pound go that little bit further, Gordon Brown apparently intends to make it more difficult for them to find the offers which will feed their families most cheaply. Dominic Lawson The Independent

Eat your crusts. Clean your plate. With a wagging finger, the Prime Minister scolds the naughty nation for wasting food, writes Carl Mortished. It's the wrong way to look at the problem. Food waste and overindulgence is a sign of new wealth. It is no accident that America is afflicted by so many diseases connected with overeating. It is because so many Americans are recent immigrants. If you have been poor or you fear poverty, an abundance of food is comforting and a symbol of your newly acquired wealth. We shouldn't blame the overweight office cleaner with a fast-food addiction any more than we should blame the skinny woman who nibbles at her posh lunch. Both are food wasters, but they are a sign that Britain is rich.
Carl Mortished The Times
World food crisis: pictures from April

Nowadays, Christian beliefs are being dumped contemptuously by the Labour Party, says James MacMillan. In the long run, in places such as the west of Scotland, the party will be fatally weakened by it. After decades of one-party rule in Scotland, there are still criminal levels of poverty and deprivation. The new middle-class Labour activist is quite happy to use the urban poor as voting fodder, paying lip-service to the mantra about alleviating economic inequalities. What they are far more passionate about, though, is the promotion of "recreational individualism and lifestyle liberalism". That is why Labour will lose the Glasgow East by-election.
James MacMillan Daily Telegraph
The Mole: With Glasgow in peril, ministers jostle for an autumn leadership race

The latest must-read book at Conservative HQ is Nudge, which argues that peer pressure is a more effective way to change behaviour than state directives, writes Rachel Sylvester. At the moment, the argument goes, people are being "nudged" in the wrong direction. The question is how to turn the nudges around. A rap song that highlighted the danger of carrying a weapon could be more deterrent than endless knife summits at No. 10. A health visitor who persuaded working-class mothers to read to their children might have as great an impact on education as a change in the qualifications system. In short, Mr Cameron does not just want to hug a hoody, he wants the hoodies to be persuaded to hug each other. He wants to create a smaller state by reducing demand rather than supply. This philosophy of "libertarian paternalism" is difficult to get across. Rachel Sylvester The Times
The Tories' Glasgow East dilemma