Let the voters sue us, says Hague

WILLIAM HAGUE will give voters the right to sue a Conservative government if it breaks its manifesto promises at the next election. The Tory leader is planning to offer the public a legally binding "guarantee" that commitments will be met if his party wins, in an attempt to tackle people's distrust of politicians.

The guarantee - a more extreme version of Labour's now infamous pledges at the last election - would leave a Conservative government open to a string of court cases which could cost millions of pounds. It would also give the courts huge power over any such future government by allowing judges to assess its record on sensitive issues.

Mr Hague will announce the principle of guaranteeing commitments, which will be a central plank of the Tories' campaign in the run-up to the next general election, in a speech to the London Chamber of Commerce tomorrow.

The announcement has been rushed out by Tory strategists in an attempt to seize back the focus of the news agenda, which has been dominated by speculation about a leadership bid by Michael Portillo.

The Tory leader will identify cutting Government red tape as the first policy area to be affected. But a Conservative spokesman said the principle of the legally binding contract would be deployed widely across the policies proposed by the party at the next election. For example, voters could be invited to sue if a Tory administration broke a commitment not to increase taxes, failed to reduce hospital waiting times or did not set up a grammar school in every town.

A Conservative spokesman said the guarantee concept would also be fleshed out at a two-day Shadow Cabinet policy summit in Aylesbury which starts on Tuesday. The Tory leader will ask his frontbenchers to think of policies in their portfolios which could be included in a legally binding concept.

Attention will focus on defining Mr Hague's idea of "kitchen table Conservatism", intended to identify bread-and-butter issues that are of concern to ordinary people.

The Tories have drawn up the idea of the guarantee since their focus groups found widespread disillusionment with politicians. They believe that they must do more to reassure voters because the public no longer believes anything that MPs say.

"The public is very cynical about politicians' promises and plans," a Conservative spokesman said. "So we are going to back them up with guarantees where appropriate - it's like a pledge but better and bigger because there would be a legal duty on the Government to deliver it. If the Government failed to deliver, then anybody could take them to court."

In his speech, Mr Hague will promise to guarantee more de-regulation if the Tories win the election. Government departments would be set targets for reducing red tape and ministers made personally liable if they do not do so.

"We are going to squeeze the Whitehall regulators until the pips squeak," he will say.

Mr Portillo will continue his ongoing process of rehabilitation at the Tory party conference next month, with a major speech setting out his ideas for education policy.