Hague: Let's reclaim compassion from left

William Hague attempted to resurrect his own brand of "compassionate Conservatism" yesterday with a speech in the United States attacking both President Bill Clinton and Tony Blair.

William Hague attempted to resurrect his own brand of "compassionate Conservatism" yesterday with a speech in the United States attacking both President Bill Clinton and Tony Blair.

The Tory leader told a meeting at the Republican Party Convention in Philadelphia that parties of the left had defrauded the public by aping their right-of-centre counterparts.

Speaking ahead of the expected endorsement of George W Bush as the party's presidential candidate, Mr Hague told members of the International Democrat Union that it was time to reclaim compassion from the Democrats and the Labour Party.

"They made a systematic attempt to occupy the centre ground of politics by imitating our language, adopting our issues and pretending to be parties of the right," he said. In a clear reference to President Clinton, he added: "Our Republican Party hosts know all too well who pioneered this."

Mr Hague praised Mr Bush for "making compassion part of the conservative lexicon in the United States" claiming that it was the policies of the right that delivered a more compassionate and fair society.

"The left has always claimed 'compassion' as their word, there is nothing compassionate about what their policies delivered. For where is the compassion in policies of high taxation and heavy government regulation that put families on the dole?" he said.

Mr Hague added that by offering to hand power to doctors, teachers, parents and pensioners, the Tories had become more popular.