Analysis: The Tory in-fighting that won't fade away

Just as Iain Duncan Smith hoped he had united the warring tribes in the Conservative Party, he was hit by new allegations of faction-fighting, secret plots and skulduggery.

Lord Tebbit, a former party chairman, said a secretive organisation called The Movement was plotting to have him expelled from the party and was undermining Mr Duncan Smith. The allegation followed the Tory leader's criticism of Lord Tebbit after the peer attacked the current chairman, Theresa May, for describing the Tories as "the nasty party".

Who, then, is in The Movement and what is their agenda? According to Lord Tebbit, they are allies of Michael Portillo and Kenneth Clarke, the defeated candidates in last year's Tory leadership election. He claims to have a list of 13 people, believed to include at least one official at Conservative Central Office, some former staffers, MPs and three journalists from The Daily Telegraph and The Times.

The veteran peer, still a popular figure among the Tory grass roots, said he had been tipped off by "a mole" three weeks ago that the plotters would move against him in an attempt to destabilise Mr Duncan Smith. "They share the view that the Conservative Party needs a confrontation between traditionalists (nasties) and modernisers (nice), akin to Labour's Clause 4 battle," said Lord Tebbit. "Victory for the modernisers (and Europhiles) would demonstrate to the voters that the Conservative Party had broken with the past and become a new party."

Lord Tebbit said The Movement's plan was to isolate Mr Duncan Smith from his traditionalist and Eurosceptic supporters. This, he said, would open the door to a successful leadership challenge by a moderniser or Europhile candidate. "My fate within or without the Conservative Party is unimportant, but it is up to Mr Duncan Smith to deal with those who would rather lose an election than see a traditionalist Eurosceptic Conservative leader in office," he said.

Yesterday, Tory modernisers dismissed Lord Tebbit's claims as "over the top" and "conspiracy theories". Some sources suggested there was an informal network of like-minded "mods" who compared notes and tactics. They insisted it was not an organisation or "party within a party" and denied Mr Portillo or Mr Clarke were involved.