John Bercow has criticised Michael Howard for proposing tax cuts for the rich and failing to modernise the appeal of the Conservative Party.

Bercow, a former frontbench spokesman for the Tories, uses an interview with the Independent to accuse the Conservative leader of relying too heavily on immigration, taxation and Europe.

He says: "I don't meet people even in Conservative areas who tell me their main priority is tax cuts ... We have to spend a lot more time thinking about people who don't vote Conservative."