David Cameron has pledged to cut taxes and regulation for business, but warned that in return it must help tackle social problems.
The Tory leader delivered an appeal for firms to join him in "changing" Britain for the better, by addressing issues such as crime, drugs and obesity.
Speaking at the Institute of Directors conference in London, Mr Cameron said: "You want me to give you lower taxes and less regulation. I want to give you lower taxes and less regulation.
"But I need something in return. And if I don't get it, lower taxes and less regulation won't be sustainable.
"I need your help in cutting the demand for tax and regulation. That demand comes from social breakdown. By that I mean, the crime, the drugs, the alcohol abuse, the debt, the dysfunctionality that follows from so much family breakdown."
He added: "We need businesses - as well as politicians - to think, what can we do make Britain more family-friendly? How can we fight obesity and drug abuse? What role have we got in tackling the anti-social behaviour that blights our communities?"
Taking to the stage just hours after Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the Tory leader insisted the Labour Government had "failed".
He said the party had come to power in 1997 with "one good idea up their sleeve" - making the Bank of England independent - but no coherent vision or plan for Britain's future.
"I think Labour have failed. They've failed on their central mission - to deliver social justice and economic efficiency," Mr Cameron said.
He insisted a Conservative government would crack down on welfare benefits waste, boost the academies system, and "transform" the prisons system by bringing in the private sector.
Read More
MORE ABOUT