Tories attack leader on adoption

Iain Duncan Smith faced fury from within his Shadow Cabinet last night after voicing hardline opposition to unmarried couples adopting children.

Senior Tory frontbenchers criticised their leader for committing the party to a reactionary stance against liberal reforms by insisting only married couples were fit to adopt children. They warned that adoption was a crucial weathervane for the party's stance on social issues after Mr Duncan Smith's succession to the leadership in September.

He will move to stress the party's new credentials on social issues today with a call for fresh help for youngsters in failing inner-city schools. He will suggest more power is devolved to individual heads and governors to tailor the schools more closely to the needs of local communities.

"The most important thing for me personally, my mission for the Conservative Party is to provide equal opportunity in our schools for all children, particularly the most vulnerable, wherever they live, however much they earn," Mr Duncan Smith will say.

Conservative MPs were told to obey an unusual "soft" three-line whip on adoption in the Commons last night as MPs voted on detailed amendments to the Adoption and Children Bill. Senior MPs who objected to the party's stance were encouraged to abstain to avoid a damaging split on the issue. Controversial changes to the Bill, allowing unmarried couples to adopt children, were approved by MPs last week. In a free vote after months of lobbying by children's and adoption groups, the Commons backed the move by 288 to 133 votes. In that vote, four shadow cabinet members were given special licence to be away from the Commons.

Last night MPs were voting on a last-minute attempt by the senior Conservative backbencher Andrew Lansley to exclude same-sex couples from those able to adopt. Tory MPs were ordered to back the amendment, but Conservative officials said MPs who disagreed in principle would be able to defy the party whip.