During the third reading of the Teaching and Higher Education Bill in the Commons, the Shadow Education Minister, Theresa May, tabled an amendment to make the GTC a powerful voice for teachers. She said her proposal would have established a "truly independent body, of the profession, for the profession."

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Teachers "are desperate to be recognised as professionals. The creation of the GTC should have been a golden opportunity to restore their pride," she said.

"The quality of education that children receive in our schools is the important thing. But paramount in ensuring the quality of education that children receive is the quality of teachers.

"I believe that the government has missed a very real opportunity in setting up the GTC to have set up a body that could have played a very important part in ensuring the continued professionalism of the teaching profession and enhancing the professions standards," she said.

Government unmoved

But faced with implacable opposition from the Minister for Standards in Schools, Stephen Byers, the amendment was withdrawn.

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He denied the new teachers' body would not have enough teeth: "It is untrue to say we are not giving powers to the GTC," he said. "The GTC will have the power to strike off the register people who are professionally incompetent or who have committed serious professional misconduct."

He said the Tories had "lost the plot as far as education is concerned. The reality is that this Bill, coupled with the School Standards Bill, will raise standards and ensure we provide children with the quality of education they deserve."

The government yesterday succeeded in overturning a Lords defeat over the GTC's powers. Peers had agreed in March that the new body should have responsibility for barring teachers over child protection matters - but the government insisted the power should remain with the Secretary of State.

The Bill was initially debated on Monday night, where it sparked a Labour backbench revolt of 31 Labour MPs who voted against Government's plans to scrap student maintenance grants.

MPs did not have the chance to vote on the thorny issue of £1,000-a-year tuition fees because the debate ran out of time because of a guillotine.