Balls and Cameron row over marriage

The battle between Labour and the Conservatives over marriage and Britain's "broken society" grew increasingly bitter yesterday after David Cameron was accused of using the Edlington case for political opportunism.

Ed Balls, the Children's Secretary, pointed out that the brothers jailed indefinitely for the torture and abuse of two boys were the sons of married parents – undermining the Tory leader's case that bolstering the institution of marriage was essential to mending the problems in society.

The parents of the Edlington brothers – a violent alcoholic father and a drug-addicted mother – split up a year ago and the brothers already had a record of violent behaviour.

In a major speech on Friday, the Conservative leader used the case as an example of how Britain was a "broken society" and in "social recession". He also used the speech to highlight his flagship policy of recognising marriage through the tax system.

Mr Cameron said: "I absolutely feel at my very core that recognising that relationships matter, that commitment matters and, yes, that marriage matters is something we should not say quietly but something we should say loudly and proudly. Marriage is only one small part of that overall whole but let's recognise how important families are, how important backing them really is and how we have produced, I think, the most family-friendly manifesto that any party has ever backed."

Mr Balls told Radio 5 Live: "David Cameron says the key to this is to say a tax incentive for marriage. Look, in this family, they were married. It didn't stop the violence."