London - The Tory former chancellor, Mr Kenneth Clarke, yesterday warned that the Conservatives under Mr William Hague had still not begun to rebuild themselves as a "credible party of government".
In a devastating analysis of Mr Hague's leadership, Mr Clarke likened the last months of 1999 to the dying years of Mr John Major's government, characterised by repeated "unexpected accidents".
He accused Mr Hague of surrounding himself with a group of "way out young ideologues" who had moved the party too far to the right and said they had to end their "mad obsession" with Europe if they were to stand a chance of power.
Meanwhile, anti-European sentiment is running at a record high in Britain, with 46 per cent in favour of leaving the EU altogether, according to a new opinion poll published in the Times newspaper today. Only 17 per cent said they were in favour of joining the euro zone and dumping the British pound.