Lilley rips open Tory wounds: Strong reassertion of Thatcherite values threatens truce between party's factions

THE fragile truce between the warring factions of the Conservative Party began to fall apart yesterday as a Cabinet minister revived tensions over policy and a rebel backbencher predicted government defeats on rail privatisation and VAT.

In a strong reassertion of Thatcherite values Peter Lilley, Secretary of State for Social Security, directly challenged a call by Douglas Hurd, the Foreign Secretary, to abandon the idea of 'permanent cultural revolution' in public life. Mr Hurd's speech had echoed the concerns of the left of the party about the radical social agenda of the right.

Asked directly about the Foreign Secretary's speech, Mr Lilley said in an interview with the Independent on Sunday: 'I don't relish change for change's sake but I think that, because we live in a world where we still have a lot of the cumulative changes from the Forties, Fifties and Sixties which have to be rectified, and because the world is changing, we have to try and keep ahead of the game.

'I think that we are not going to be in a position where you can just sit back and do nothing for the foreseeable future. Just in social security alone a lot of changes have to take place in the next 10 years'.

Mr Lilley's comments will dismay Tory wets already anxious about a lurch to the right over law and order, social policy and Europe.

Rebellious backbenchers on both wings of the party yesterday served notice to Mr Major that they will not be muzzled by his demand to keep internal party disagreements private. William Powell, MP for Corby, attacked the Government over rail privatisation and VAT on domestic fuel, while William Cash, MP for Stafford, demanded renegotiation of the Maastricht Treaty.

The comments dealt a blow to Mr Major who, in his speech at the Tory conference last Friday, said he had a right to demand that back-bench critics raise their disagreements with him rather than go public in television and newspaper interviews.

But Mr Cash, leader of the Maastricht rebels, said he would continue speaking out. 'It is a matter of democracy, frankly,' he said. 'It is just not going to happen. We are elected as Members of Parliament, and we have the right of free speech.'

Mr Powell said: 'The real world of politics is not Blackpool - the problems the Government have to face are in Parliament. It has to confront railways and unless it concedes to the Lords amendments (allowing British Rail to bid for operating franchises) it has a rebellion on its hands straight away'.

Threatening to back likely Labour amendments, he added that, unless the Chancellor, Kenneth Clarke, at least scaled down his plans to apply VAT on domestic fuel, that the Government's chances of winning Parliamentary votes were 'disappearing into the sands'.

The right of the Conservative Party believes that it has won policy changes through keeping a high profile on television, radio and in newspapers. Mr Cash insisted: 'None of us likes particularly to have to say critical things but all MPs, whether in government or outside, do it.'

Support - for a while, page 2

Leading article, page 24

Peter Lilley interview, page 25