THE TORY leadership contest descended into turmoil last night, writes Rachel Donnelly from London. One of the challengers, the former home secretary, Mr Michael Howard, was accused of having misled Parliament over the sacking of Mr Derek Lewis, the former director of the Prison Service, in 1995.
Although Mr Howard admitted yesterday that he had "disagreed" with the former Tory minister, Ms Ann Widdecombe, over Mr Lewis's dismissal, Ms Widdecombe refused to comment on reports that she will write to the Tory leader, Mr John Major, this week with more allegations concerning Mr Howard.
Ms Widdecombe, who worked with Mr Howard at the Home Office and did not support Mr Lewis's removal, is said to have described him as "dangerous stuff", hinting that there was "something of the night" in his personality.
The row over Mr Lewis's dismissal by Mr Howard, amid plummeting standards of prison discipline, had sparked a full Commons debate, which Mr Howard said had subjected his decision to more "scrutiny" than any other issue at the time.
Explaining his decision to overrule Ms Widdecombe, Mr Howard said an independent report had made "very serious" criticisms of the prison service management and he was convinced his decision was "the right one".
Ms Widdecombe, who is supporting Mr Peter Lilley in the leadership contest, refused to confirm her intentions last night saying: "I can only repeat that I have no comment at this time."
However, just as the former health secretary, Mr Stephen Dorrell, called for party unity among the Tory "rabble", Mr Howard and another leadership contender, Mr William Hague, clashed over Europe.
With Mr Howard urging a referendum on the outcome of the Intergovernmental Conference at Amsterdam, former Welsh secretary Mr Hague claimed there were "bigger fish to fry" and the party should not become a debating society on Europe.
"All areas of policy are up for review. We must be prepared to change anything and everything, except our core principles.
"I dare say we will win the next general election. Just because we have lost by a large margin, doesn't mean the voters, have moved away from us forever.
Meanwhile, a poll in the Sunday Times of 85 Tory MPs placed Mr Howard joint bottom with Mr Dorrell in the leadership race. Mr Hague emerged as the frontrunner, with 16 votes.