A Labour MP wants a national database of runaway children to be set up to trace the 100,000 youngsters who leave home every year. Helen Southworth, MP for Warrington South, called for the database as part of her Protection of Runaway and Missing Children Bill. Ms Southworth said a fifth of runaways say they are forced to leave home, with a quarter saying they are fleeing abuse, and nearly one-tenth citing bullying or other school problems. The Bill gained its first reading, but without support from the Government stands little chance of becoming law.