David Cameron faces new accusations of favouring spin over substance after producing a pamphlet on society designed like a car manual.

The document, called Breakdown Britain, highlights Conservative plans on social policy, after Iain Duncan Smith’s recent study.

The A5 booklet has been produced in the style of a Haynes’s motoring manual, and is dubbed the “citizen’s repair manual”, illustrating social problems as if they were broken car components. The first chapter, entitled “Family Unit Breakdown”, declares: “If not treated immediately other related problems may occur.” The “family unit” is represented as an interlocking gearbox, with arrows pointing to components such as “commitment”, “strong values”, “mother” and “father”. The education system is represented by the car engine.

The colour booklet, distributed with some newspapers over the weekend, is part of Mr Cameron’s consultation asking potential Tory voters for their views on fixing “Breakdown Britain”.

Tories are asked to rate their favourite policy ideas and send the results to the party’s Millbank headquarters. “Enter our competition so you can tell David Cameron face-to-face in a one-to-one discussion what you think needs to be done,” the booklet says.

One contributor to the activists’ ConservativeHome website said: “The booklet is pretty mediocre, presents the issues in a poor way and would probably have been better put into a full-page ad in several dailies.”

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