The Tory leader David Cameron described the family and community as his “DNA” as he laid out a vision which placed marriage at the centre of social policy for a future Conservative government.

Stressing the importance of family, Mr Cameron said that “a stable, loving home is the most precious thing a child can have”.

Society and responsibility, he added “begins at home”, urging that Britain needed to become “more family friendly”.

“Why aren’t we building homes with enough room for a family to sit round a table and actually eat a meal together?” he asked.

Mr Cameron added: “We give our children more and more rights, and we trust our teachers less and less. We’ve got to stop treating children like adults and adults like children.”

He criticised Labour’s policies on poverty, pointing out that a single mother with two children earning £150 a week was keeping just four pence for every pound she earned after the withdrawal of benefits was taken into account.

“What kind of incentive is that?” he asked. “Thirty years ago, this party won an election fighting against 98 per cent taxes on the richest. Today I want us to show even more anger about 96 per cent taxes on the poorest.”