The Liberal Democrats have launched a year-long review of key policies in an attempt to reposition the party as the main Opposition voice within British politics.
As Britain's third largest party declared yesterday there would be "no totems and no taboos" during its overhaul of party policy, the Conservative leadership confirmed the appointment of a staunch Eurosceptic, Mr Bill Cash,
His appointment, the Liberal Democrat deputy leader, Mr Alan Beith, said, suggested the Tories would remain in the "anti-European ghetto" rejected by most voters in June's general election.
One of the key features of the review, which will be led by politicians at national and European level, business leaders and academics, will be the role of public services and the involvement of private finance in the public sector. Hinting that the party would support a greater role for the private sector in public services, a Liberal Democrat MEP, Mr Chris Huhne, declared there was nothing new in pouring private money into transport, health, schools and other public services.
The review comes as the Liberal Democrats, who want to build on their success in the general election when they won a record 52 seats, prepare to kick off the party conference season in Bournemouth this weekend. Mr Beith said many "moderate" Tories were more in tune with the Liberal Democrats than their own party, but he warned the Liberal Democrats were not about to turn themselves into a pro-European Tory party. "We treasure our values too dearly for that," he added.
The new Conservative leader, Mr Iain Duncan Smith, denied the promotion of Mr Cash - who led the anti-Maastricht rebellion during Mr John Major's premiership - meant his frontbench team was dominated by Eurosceptics, insisting his colleagues were "Conservatives first and foremost."
Voters in Birmingham, meanwhile, have rejected a proposal for the first directly elected mayor outside London. Nearly 222,000 voters took part in a referendum on the future of the city council, with 46.4 per cent voting to keep the current system whereby the council elects its leader and a cabinet of councillors.
Although a majority, 53.6 per cent, supported a directly elected mayor, their vote was split between those who wanted a cabinet of councillors and those who wanted a council manager to work alongside the mayor.