Call off cricket tour, say Tories

Michael Ancram says the Foreign Office is 'dithering'

The Conservatives have accused the Foreign Office of "dithering" over the English cricket team's planned tour of Zimbabwe in November.

Shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram said the trip would "give succour" to President Robert Mugabe.

In a letter to Jack Straw, he called for the Foreign Office to advise the English Cricket Board (ECB) to cancel the tour.

The ECB is to decide next week whether to go ahead with the tour.

Mr Ancram said the Foreign Office's failure to take a lead on the matter was "stupefying".

Media spotlight

In a letter to Foreign Secretary Jack Straw he wrote: "What is required from the prime minister and yourself is a firm public statement.

"An England team playing in Zimbabwe will give succour not only to the regime but also directly to Robert Mugabe," he wrote.

Protesters want firmer action against Mugabe

Mr Mugabe would use the tour to "bask in the media spotlight", Mr Ancram said.

But Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, chairman-in-office of the Commonwealth, said the tour "should be used as an instrument of friendship".

"Even when the political relationship is frosty, sport can be used to warm up the frostiness," he said.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said the ECB had asked for the Foreign Office's views and had been briefed on the social and political situation in Zimbabwe.

However, she said: "We've always made it clear that it's a matter for the ECB to decide."

She refused to say whether the Foreign Office felt the tour should go ahead.

The controversy over the tour comes a year after England dropped out of a World Cup cricket match in Zimbabwe, citing concerns for players' safety.