BRITAIN: Britain's Conservative Party was dealt an embarrassing pre-election blow with the resignation of a top member of parliament who said the party was hiding the scale of proposed spending cuts.
The departure of deputy chairman Howard Flight was seen as a major setback for Tory leader Michael Howard, who has made much of the running in pre-campaign skirmishes before a parliamentary election expected on May 5th.
Mr Howard, hoping to limit the political fallout, said Mr Flight would no longer be a Conservative candidate in the election.
However, Mr Flight said he would fight the ban, saying he had the support of the local Conservative association in his safe seat in the south-east.
Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party, favoured in opinion polls to land an unprecedented third term, was quick to pounce on the Conservative disarray.
Mr Flight helped set up a Conservative savings review under David James which claimed they could save £35 billion in government spending by tackling waste.
Labour said that would mean the Conservatives slashing spending on health and education, two of the most sensitive issues for voters.
Mr Flight stepped down after the Times newspaper obtained a recording of him telling supporters the scale of cuts was being concealed because "whatever the fine principles, you have to win an election first".
"The potential for getting better taxpayer value is a good bit greater than the James findings which have been sieved for what is politically acceptable."
He was recorded as saying that some Conservative proposals were "nakedly political". After an election, he said, "you can actually get on with what needs to be done".
Mr Flight, the Conservatives' special envoy to the City of London financial district, said after stepping down that he regretted his choice of words which did not accurately reflect his party's position.