In a sign of just how far the Tories have travelled, David Cameron has been urged by one of his leading advisers to embrace Ms Toynbee’s view of the world and ditch that of the Tories’ once proudest icon, Sir Winston Churchill.

In comments that are likely to infuriate traditionalists, Greg Clark, MP for Tunbridge Wells and a shadow minister, said that the party made a “terrible mistake” in the 1980s and 1990s when it ignored the increase in the wealth gap.

In a report for the party’s social justice policy group, Mr Clark has insisted that the party give up on Churchill’s “outdated” view that governments should only provide a safety net for basic needs and instead embrace Ms Toynbee’s view that what matters most is inequality.

A clearly nervous party leadership insisted last night that the report was independent and did not represent party policy, although it would be considered when it is formally published next year.

Mr Clark said that the failure by the previous Tory Government to recognise the importance of tackling the wealth gap had led to an “atmosphere of anger and mistrust”.

Ms Toynbee and the Labour Government have emphasised that poverty is relative, and that people should not be prevented from taking a full part in society because they do not have enough money.

Recently, Ms Toynbee wrote that ending poverty would require “radical” redistribution of wealth.

Mr Clark wrote: “It is the social commentator Polly Toynbee, rather than Sir Winston Churchill, who supplies imagery that is more appropriate for Conservative social policy in the 21st century.”

Mr Clark said that Labour had not done enough to end poverty. He produced figures showing that, although moderate poverty had been reduced, there were 750,000 more people earning less than 40 per cent of the average income.

“Poverty in Britain hasn’t gone away,” he said. “Despite nine years of New Labour promises, the underlying problems are still unresolved. Many are worse than ever. If the poorest people fall too far behind those further up the income scale, our society will pull apart.”

John Hutton, the Work and Pensions Secretary, said: “David Cameron can try to erase the memory of appalling child poverty under the Tories, but he personally opposed the minimum wage, opposed the New Deal and refuses to match Labour’s real commitment to ending child poverty by 2020.”

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