Rifkind admits Tories are 'muttering' over Howard

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the former foreign secretary, has acknowledged that Michael Howard had a difficult time in Parliament last week and that Conservatives have begun to "mutter" about his leadership.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the former foreign secretary, has acknowledged that Michael Howard had a difficult time in Parliament last week and that Conservatives have begun to "mutter" about his leadership.

The Tory candidate for Kensington and Chelsea, tipped as the next leader of his party, admitted in an interview with The Independent that Tony Blair performed better than Mr Howard in last week's debate on the Butler report.

"Inevitably if you have disappointing by-election results and Tony Blair does better than Michael Howard in some debate in the House of Commons then some people will mutter," Sir Malcolm said.Michael Portillo said yesterday that Mr Howard was like a cricketer who "had broken his bat". The party was "muttering" against him for having "messed up".

Lord Heseltine, the former deputy prime minister, warned Mr Howard that it would be a "suicide decision" to shift to the right. "The Tories can win only on the centre ground," he told BBC1's Breakfast with Frost.