Lord Strathclyde: Freedoms dying

The Conservative leader in the Lords has slammed the government's "constitutional fiddling".

Addressing the party's Bournemouth conference, Lord Strathclyde said Labour had repeatedly failed to heed warnings about the effect of its changes to key pillars of the British constitution.

He pointed to recent rows over hunting as a sign of the government's failure to listen to alternative points of view.

"I hope the Lords can promote a sensible compromise over hunting," he said.

"We will try - but already the government say they won't listen.

"Instead, they will use the cudgel of the Parliament Act to crush any point of view other that their own."

The peer said such a move would prompt a "foolish, unnecessary crisis" and illustrated Labour's "blunderbuss attitude to our constitution".

He went on to mount the traditional Conservative defence of the UK's unwritten constitution.

"For centuries this country prospered and changed without the social upheavals that scarred so many others," he said.

"It did so by a unique combination of laws and traditions, self-imposed restraints, an innate sense of decency and tolerance and a willingness to compromise and respect others.

"New Labour have kicked this constitution around with all the subtlety of a mindless yob booting a tin-can up the street.

"Every time they abuse our constitution, a bit of freedom dies."

He said ministers had ignored five warnings from the Lords not to introduce all-postal ballots, which have now suffered from "widespread fears of voting fraud".

"The next Conservative government will end fiddling with our voting system," pledged Lord Strathclyde.

"We will restore integrity and simplicity to the electoral process.

"And we will reaffirm the right, fought for by men and women over generations, for every British citizen to cast a secret vote in a ballot box at a polling station.

"It is a scandal Labour ever took that right away."

Continuing his attack with a personal broadside against Tony Blair, the senior Tory said the prime minister "rarely bothers to turn up to listen or vote" in parliament.

"Under the guise of so-called modernisation, Opposition rights to challenge ministers have been reduced," he added.

"Number 10's grip has got stronger - parliament has grown weaker."

He pledged that a Conservative administration would "strengthen parliament, uphold the powers of the upper house and protect individual freedom".

"We will never allow the House of Lords to become just a rubber stamp for ministers, and we won't use the Parliament Act to bypass parliament on issues of conscience," he said.

There was also a pledge to "end the threat of political interference in the courts" by scrapping moves to abolish the post of lord chancellor.