FORMER Bolton MP Ann Taylor has become the third Cabinet Minister to come under fire for failing to get her child back in school for the start of term.

The Chief Whip's daughter, Isabelle, missed a day's lessons because she and her family were unable to get back from holiday in France in time.

Mrs Taylor, a former pupil of Bolton School, joins Prime Minister Tony Blair and Home Secretary Jack Straw in defying their colleague Education Secretary David Blunkett's plea for parents not to take their kids on holiday during term time.

And it follows David Hart, spokesman for the National Association of Head Teachers, attacking Cabinet Ministers for "giving parents the wrong message".

He said that the first day of term was a vital part of school life, adding: "It must be very confusing when, on the one hand, the Secretary of State for Education is saying one thing and two of his Cabinet colleagues are doing the other."

With Mrs Taylor, former MP for Bolton West who now represents Dewsbury, adding to the problems, his comments seem even more pointed.

To make matters worse, she is a former education spokeswoman, and her husband, David, is vice governor of the school.

Last night, her constituency secretary, Margaret Sheard, said the family had had difficulty getting back from holiday because of the bad weather.

Mrs Taylor is understood to have booked to return on Sunday and get back to the family's Yorkshire home on Monday in time for the start of term for Isabelle on Tuesday.

However, the crossing was cancelled and, by the time the family got back to Britain, there was no chance of Isabelle getting to school on time.

Ian Macpherson, Head of Holmfirth High School, said Isabelle's attendance was usually excellent but refused to say if he had been informed in advance that she could not make class.

Mr Hart said that parents should leave plenty of time to get their children back to school after the holidays because travel plans frequently went wrong because of circumstances beyond their control.

Blackburn MP Mr Straw's daughter, Charlotte, an 'A' level student at Pimlico School in London, had been granted five days' extra leave by Headmaster Philip Barnard to take a family holiday in India, while Mr Blair's three children missed up to two days in school while with their parents in the Seychelles. Slammed - Ann Taylor couldn't get her daughter back to school in time HHH

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