London - Former Conservative Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher last night launched a fierce attack on the government over its decision to commit British troops to the new European defence force.
Lady Thatcher, interviewed on the eve of the 10th anniversary of her departure from Downing Street, described the new force as "monumental folly".
Speaking to the Sun, Lady Thatcher said: "The government's plans to create a new European army make no military sense at all.
"None to Britain, whose forces are already overstretched. None to Europe, which has even less chance of becoming a military power than of creating a sound currency. And none to NATO, which this proposal threatens to divide and destroy. It is a piece of monumental folly that puts our security at risk in order to satisfy political vanity."
Conservative leader Mr William Hague said the party would seek to turn it into a general election issue, and committed a future Conservative government to pulling British troops out of the new structure.
Mr Hague insisted: "It is not too late for Mr Blair to change course and say we are going to bring this all back within NATO to meet all these concerns . . . This will be a general election issue."
Earlier, Prime Minister Tony Blair angrily denied British forces were joining an EU army. On a visit to Moscow, Mr Blair insisted it was right for British troops to co-operate with other forces on humanitarian and peacekeeping missions.