Tory vow to mend 'broken society'

In an emotional unscripted speech which was given a rousing reception by Tory supporters, Mr Duncan Smith told the Prime Minister: "British society is broken and it's time you admitted it.

"As much as Mrs Thatcher changed the economy, our duty now is to change society for the better."

Mr Duncan Smith, chairman of the social justice policy group, pointed to rising violent crime, drug and gang culture and family breakdown as evidence of a broken society.

Presenting his policy group's findings, he called for tax breaks to bolster marriage, reform of welfare benefits and an expansion of credit unions.

Labour, he said, wanted a general election to try and "destroy the Tory party once and for all".

This was the difference between the Conservatives and Labour parties. "They want power to destroy us. We must want power to rebuild Britain and care for British people."

Earlier, the Tories launched a stinging attack on Gordon Brown's pursuit of photo opportunities in Iraq as the Prime Minister announced British troop withdrawals on a visit to Baghdad.

Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox accused the premier of failing to grasp the needs of the military and criticised the brevity of Mr Brown's remarks about Iraq in his Labour conference speech last week.

Vowing to make overstretch in the army a key battleground of the next election, Mr Fox promised the Conservative Party conference the Tories would reverse cuts and expand Britain's military capacity. "We all want to see our troops come home from Iraq, but only because the job has been done, not because the army is too small to fulfil its commitments," he told delegates in a keynote speech.