Gove lays into struggling families in care home rant

He painted a picture of squalor as he put the boot into families fighting to pay the bills in Con-Dem Britain and said more backing should be given to social workers to "rescue" children.

"I want social workers to be more assertive with dysfunctional parents, courts to be less indulgent of poor parents and the care system to expand to deal with the consequences," he said.

Mr Gove conceded there were concerns about children being separated from loving parents in stable and secure families.

He said: "I don't deny such cases exist. But there is no evidence that they are anything other than a truly tiny number."

He said: "In all too many cases when we decide to leave children in need with their biological parents we are leaving them to endure a life of soiled nappies and scummy baths, chaos and hunger, hopelessness and despair."

During a speech in London he backed assertions made in a report by Lord Carlile of Berriew which looked into children's services at Doncaster Council in South Yorkshire.

He said the report found the "balance of evidence is heavily in favour of care" for vulnerable children being considered "at an earlier stage for many children."

British Association of Social Workers acting chief executive Bridget Robb said: "What his analysis overlooks is that protecting children also involves learning from evidence from around the world telling us that simply cutting them off from their birth families is not always in their best interests."