The Conservatives have reiterated their determination to sue the Times for libel over an article which claimed that Lynton Crosby, the party's campaign director, said the Tories could not win the next general election.

A "senior Tory" told the FT that the court action was "a warning shot across [the newspaper's] bows".

A shadow Cabinet member said: "There's a view that the Times has become an incredible Downing Street tip sheet. If Downing Street wants to get a line out the Times reflects that almost unquestioningly."

Meanwhile, in a BBC television documentary to be broadcast this weekend, Kenneth Clarke, cast doubt's on the Conservative's chances at the next election.

Describing the Tory party as Michael Howard's "biggest problem", he says: "It is possible we could win the next election but the party itself has got to change."

In the same programme, Howard reveals he once sent friends copies of "Dracula" with his picture on the cover to "make a bit of a joke" of his public image.

In a defence of her husband, Sandra Howard says Ann Widdecombe's description of the Conservative leader as "having something of the night" about him was not "absolutely the best thing I've ever heard, but it's become a joke".