Iain Duncan Smith has sought to limit the damage of a party row over the extent of public spending cuts the Tories will promise at the next election.

The Conservative leader said the figure of 20 per cent suggested by shadow Treasury spokeman Howard Flight was only a working target aimed at Whitehall waste and that the cuts would not fall on essential public services such as health and education.

However Labour's Paul Boateng moved quickly to exploit the issue saying that Duncan Smith "must rewrite his new year's message to tell the British people how many doctors, nurses. teachers and police officers they would cut".