Tories hit back at 'nutters' jibe

Mr Clarke contrasted the Tory leader with Mr Hague

The Conservatives have called Labour Party Chairman Charles Clarke "foolish" after he said the shadow cabinet included "known nutters".

Mr Clarke said some of Iain Duncan Smith's appointments were "more extreme, more ultra-right and more dislocated from the electorate" than under his predecessor, William Hague.

When he puts kind of known nutters in the operation, you just think blimey, what world are we living in?

Charles Clarke

But what Mr Clarke termed a serious mistake was no such thing, his opposite number, David Davis, declared.

The Labour chairman's comments were out of tune with the government, Mr Davis told BBC Radio 4's World At One, adding: "Number 10 was actually thanking us for supporting the war effort and reflecting how Iain had some sensible points to make about the presentation of it.

"At the same time this rather wild and foolish attack was being made by Mr Clarke."

Westminster speech

It was in a speech to journalists at Westminster that Mr Clarke said those Tories who were "serious political players" but outside the shadow cabinet were "a much higher calibre group of people than the shadow cabinet".

"I think the party was wrong to choose Duncan Smith and Iain Duncan Smith was wrong to choose the shadow cabinet he has," Mr Clarke said.

If you need to be a nutter and an extremist to put those issues then Lord help us

David Davis

"I think he's made a very serious mistake. And when he puts kind of known nutters in the operation, you just think blimey, what world are we living in?"

However, Mr Davis stressed that the Conservative frontbench was balanced and unified.

Challenged over the presence in it of arch Eurosceptic Bill Cash and former minister Eric Forth, who was accused of abusing Commons procedure to obstruct legislation in the last parliament, Mr Davis said: "Measure this by performance."

It was the Conservatives under Iain Duncan Smith who had made humanitarian aid and the deportation of terrorists an issue in the current conflict, he claimed.

Mr Clarke compared the Tories to Labour in the 1980s

And on public services they were the ones asking the government what had gone wrong with education and the health service.

"If you need to be a nutter and an extremist to put those issues then Lord help us in the next few years because they are issues the government has got to address and they don't like addressing them when we put it to them."

Hours after Mr Clarke's speech Mr Duncan Smith himself addressed his party's backbench 1922 committee.

He pledged to lead "intelligent opposition" and steer clear of knee-jerk politics.

The ongoing policy review would allow the party to apply its "timeless values" in the context of 21st century Britain.

'Compassion and decency'

An image of compassion, decency and tolerance would show the Conservatives as "committed to our communities, our neighbours and our families".

He conceded that the Tories still needed to win the trust of the public to govern.

Mr Duncan Smith said: "We must learn patience and perseverance.

"This government will not find a more fearsome or dogged opponent when we believe them to be wrong, but we will never oppose just for the sake of opposing."