Blair dodges gay adoption row

Tony Blair has dealt a blow to gay and unmarried heterosexual couples by shelving plans to allow them to adopt.

He appears to be avoiding a damaging showdown over gay adoption by putting the controversial issue on the backburner until after the next general election. But that will mean heterosexual unmarried couples will also lose the chance to become adoptive parents for at least another four years.

When the Government's adoption Bill comes before the Commons on Wednesday, Labour will oppose an amendment that would give unmarried couples the same rights as married couples or a single parent to adopt or foster a child.

The amendment, backed by a cross-party group of MPs, is being blocked amid fears in Downing Street that political opponents would accuse them of helping homosexual couples to have a child.

Instead, Mr Blair has decided to pass the issue to his political secretary Sally Morgan, one of his most trusted aides.

Baroness Morgan, who heads Downing Street's Equality Unit, will look at the subject as part of her review into the registration of same-sex partnerships.

The decision has infuriated MPs and children's charities who believe that unmarried couples should be given the same adoption rights as married couples.

They say it would greatly improve the lives of many children by widening the pool of potential parents.

One Labour MP said: "The Government is running scared of headlines about gay couples, but this amendment isn't aimed at helping gays. It's about helping children have a chance of a secure family life.

"Unmarried couples would face the same thorough checks as married people and the safety of the child would be paramount."

He pointed out that it might be possible to prevent gay adoptions by passing another amendment stipulating that couples would mean, for the purposes of law, a man and a woman.

One of the Bill's aims is to place 40 per cent more children with families, but that will not happen unless more couples come forward. The move will reinforce the belief that the Prime Minister is deliberately avoiding making big lifestyle decisions which could provoke hostility from voters, even though the next general election is not due until 2006.

The controversy is also an embarrassment for Health Secretary Alan Milburn, who is not married to his long-term partner, and whose department has championed the Bill.