David Cameron, the Tory leader, wanted to lower to 20 weeks the limit of abortion in the UK but Gordon Brown and a majority of MPs voted yesterday to keep the current limit to 24 weeks, in the first vote on the issue in 18 years.

A lowering of the limit had been predicted, but MPs instead rejected by a comfortable majority of 71 all the amendments that would have lowered the limit.

On Monday, the Commons rejected a ban on animal-human embryos being created for use in scientific research. Last night’s vote marked the failure of a concerted campaign to reduce the abortion limit.

Dr Evan Harris, the Liberal Democrat MP, said: “Parliament has made the right decision, respecting women’s rights to access abortion and taking the advice of the medical world about what the appropriate time limit should be.”