In a debate on sport, Mr Smith told the House of Commons: "The government is committed to the re-emergence of Britain as a leading sporting nation."

Promising that he would pursue both a policy of international excellence and sport for as many people as possible, Mr Smith said that "sport can be a useful tool in helping us tackle the problems of social exclusion".

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Chris Smith

This point was picked up later in the debate when MPs said they were dismayed at the lack of participation of children in sport - and the lack of resources set aside for school sports.

Richard Spring, the Conservative spokesman for culture, media and sport, supported the government's aim to improve numeracy and literacy in schools: "But we think it was a mistake to remove the core curriculum status of PE. It sends out the wrong signal to teachers, parents and pupils alike and it invites people to conclude that sport is peripheral."

Richard Spring questioned the Government about its commitment to school sport

Mr Smith defended the government's actions, saying: "There is no question of primary schools opting out of teaching PE. It will remain a national curriculum subject and will continue to be taught in all schools." But this did not satisfy MPs.

Conservative Archie Norman said that "Sport for all" worked well as "a catchy strapline", but in practice sport among young people was in decline. "Children are taking less exercise than at any time in the last 20 years. They spend less time on sport in this country than in any other country in the European Union. Less than 2% of children spend two hours or more on sport or physical exercise per week."

"We didn't hear a word, not a single practical measure from the secretary of state on the provision of facilities to schools," he said.

Archie Norman MP says that children are getting more unfit

The government has removed physical education from its position as a core subject in the national curriculum. But despite Mr Smith's assurance that there was "no way" schools would undermine the teaching of PE, there was much criticism from MPs. Labour's Tom Pendry, chairman of the all-party sports group, said that he would "gently chide" the government for "removing physical education as a compulsory subject from the national curriculum".

Archie Norman: "Sport is in crisis..."

Speaking against this background Mr Norman, who is also the chairman of the supermarket chain Asda, went on to say: "Those of us who have experience of business would far rather recruit great sportsmen than we would look, in many cases, for great scholars.

"We have got a crisis in sport in this country - we are facing long-term decline ... The time has come to address the problem fundamentally," he said.

"The problem won't be addressed unless resources are put into it. The problem won't be addressed unless there is a real commitment, an explicit commitment to sport in the core curriculum."