Tories having 'breakdown' over euro, says Patten

The Conservatives have suffered a "nervous breakdown" because of their "obsession" with Europe, the former Tory chairman Chris Patten said yesterday.

Amid further confusion in the Tory high command over whether the party is committed to tax cuts, Mr Patten saidthe Conservatives would not be serious contenders for government until Labour calls a referendum on the euro. His comments will be seized on by Labour figures cautious about an early referendum – led by the Chancellor, Gordon Brown – as a reason to delay a euro vote. "It's good economics and good politics to delay," one Labour MP said. "We can prolong the Tories' agony by holding fire."

Mr Patten, now a European commissioner, told BBC Radio 4: "Europe has produced a nervous breakdown in the Conservative Party and the Conservative Party has to come to its senses and decide whether it really wants Britain out of Europe altogether, or whether it's prepared to accept that Britain should be playing a leading role in Europe and won't be able to do so, so long as many Europeans think that we're still semi-detached. It may well be that it needs to go through the traumas of a referendum campaign in order to sort itself out finally. But we can't go on like this, because apart from it being bad for all Conservatives, I think it's bad for the country not to have a more serious opposition."

Mr Patten said the Tories had "committed political suicide" when John Major was Prime Minister, and the party was still "in pretty deep trouble". He added: "I think it's very difficult for the Conservative Party to get its act together so long as the euro-obsession remains."

Theresa May, the Tory chairman, said there was "no confusion" over the party's stance on tax after Michael Howard, the shadow Chancellor, appeared to contradict a pledge to cut taxes by Iain Duncan Smith. But Francis Maude, a former shadow chancellor, called for greater clarity on tax policy. "We should be very clear about what we say. It is not desirable to have confusion and I hope it will be cleared up quickly."

Hady Wakefield, a Tory donor and former businessman, said Mr Duncan Smith was "making simply no impression" and might not be the right character for the leader's job.

The Liberal Democrats will try to exploit the Tory turmoil by concentrating their efforts on a million "soft" Tories in a new year campaign. Charles Kennedy warned his party yesterday it would come under greater media and public scrutiny now it was challenging the Tories in the opinion polls. "That means everybody's got to up their game – and it begins with me. But so has everybody else," he said.

"We're not altering one iota anything that we stand for. What we are trying to do is sharpen our image, our appeal, our professionalism if you like, at all levels of the party."

Labour will publish a Christmas ghost story today aimed at highlighting what it sees as "backstabbing" in Tory ranks. Visitors to Labour's website will see senior Tories portrayed as ghosts haunting Mr Duncan Smith's leadership, including Baroness Thatcher, Lord Heseltine, Kenneth Clarke and Michael Portillo.