Tory leader William Hague has challenged the Government to bring forward a Bill to speed up the adoption process - or face one devised by his own party.

He laid down the marker as he outlined how under his stewardship children would be put first.

Speaking in Gravesend, Kent, Mr Hague argued that for too long youngsters in care had been let down by government, in homes and through a lack of education.

The Tory leader told the Catholic Children's Society's "Familymakers" section - which prepares severely emotionally damaged children for adoption or long-term fostering - how he would make adoption easier for childless couples.

Mr Hague said it was wrong that children in care sometimes had to wait three years before they could be adopted, despite there being a long list of responsible, stable, loving families who would take them on.

He declared: "Conservatives want to make sure that the first consideration in adoption cases is the protection of children's interests at the heart of loving families.

"We want to tear up the politically correct rulebook that exploits children for the sake of an irrelevant social agenda.

"We need to act now for the sake of our children's future. To make it quite clear, I am calling on the Government to bring forward its own proposal for an Adoption Bill in the coming session of Parliament.

"If they do not, the Conservative Party will bring forward our own legislation by backing a Private Member's Bill incorporating our proposals."

Mr Hague said his past experience as the Secretary of State for Wales who instigated the north Wales child abuse inquiry had left him with a "firm belief" that improvements were needed to the way the state looks after children in care.

He stressed that it was a "shame on all of us" that a quarter of the prison population was made up of people who had been in care.

"We let children down when we send three-quarters of children in care into the world with no educational qualifications," he said.

"We let children down when drug dealers and child abusers are not afraid to destroy young lives."

The Government had said "many of the right things" on these issues, but by failing to take action now was in itself letting down youngsters.

"We want parents to be confident that the law provides real safeguards against criminals who threaten their children," said Mr Hague.

The Conservatives also intend to legislate to separate local authority ownership of care homes from its social services responsibilities, in the wake of the north Wales child abuse scandal.

Mr Hague's Gravesend launch follows his admission that he is to drop his party's pledge to cut taxes over the next parliament if it wins the general election.

He disclosed that the Tories' much heralded "tax guarantee", the promise to reduce taxes as a proportion of national income, would not be featured in the party's draft manifesto.

But his position was derided by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott who said the Tories could not be trusted.

"Whatever guarantees William Hague tries to run away from this autumn, he can't run away from the fact that the Tories remain committed to cutting £16 billion worth of British public services," said Mr Prescott.

Mocking Mr Hague's recent claims that he had once drunk 14 pints of beer a day, Mr Prescott said: "As Billy the Fizz tries to recover from his 14 pint summer hangover, people will remember that you can't trust the Tories."