Wakefield Labour MP Mary Creagh, who is in charge of drawing up the public health section of the party's General Election manifesto, has raised the prospect that children would not be allowed to start school unless they had received all their jabs.

Under the proposals, primary schools would be compelled to demand proof that children had been given the full range of inoculations – including measles, mumps and rubella – before they could register.

But the party sought to distance itself from the proposals, issuing a statement saying: "Labour has no plans to introduce compulsory vaccination for children."

Ms Creagh had told a Sunday newspaper the scheme was based on the system used in parts of the United States where school authorities are responsible for vaccinations.

"We have vaccination rates as low as 11 per cent in parts of London," she said.

"We need to get our rates up to 95 per cent, as recommended by the World Health Organisation. This is about health inequalities and poor areas where children are getting missed out.

"It would be up to local authorities to deal with individuals who refuse to vaccinate."

She added: "There would have to be exceptions, children who would be at risk from vaccines, like those with cancer or those who are HIV-positive and those with parents with strong religious beliefs."

The proposal was strongly condemned by the chairman of the British Medical Association, Dr Hamish Meldrum, who said forcing parents to have their children inoculated was "morally and ethically dubious".

He added: "A Stalinist approach like this would be likely to backfire on an unprecedented scale and increase opposition to vaccinations."

Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "The way to encourage the take up of the MMR jab is not by coercing parents. Parents should be convinced based on the evidence.

"Our efforts to improve public health do not need more authoritarianism, but more social responsibility."