Tebbit issues warning: 'Cameron has contaminated Tories with Blair poison'

David Cameron has contaminated the Conservatives with the "poison" of Tony Blair, Lord Tebbit warns today.

The former party chairman and long-standing grassroots favourite lambasts the leadership for putting "Blair worship" at the heart of its policy-making.

Lord Tebbit's attack is a reminder to Mr Cameron that some Conservatives remain unhappy with the direction in which he is leading the party.

He has been criticised in recent weeks for failing to improve the party's standing in the polls at a time when Labour appears to be vulnerable.

For weeks activists on Conservative websites have been pressing Mr Cameron to raise his game by giving voters a clear choice.

Last week a Tory attack on the Government over Northern Rock failed to win public support.

Some polls have seen the Conservative lead reduced to just three points, although the most recent one on Tuesday put them ahead by 11 points.

Lord Tebbit, who ran the party under Margaret Thatcher, issued his most devastating attack on Mr Cameron to date in a letter to The Spectator magazine.

He singled out for rebuke Mr Cameron's claim during his leadership campaign that he is the "heir to Blair".

"I had hoped that David Cameron's claim to be "the heir to Blair" was just a silly mistake springing from inexperience," said Lord Tebbit.

"It is more worrying to find that Blair worship is now the doctrine of modern compassionate Conservatism."

He claimed Mr Cameron's enthusiasm for the former Prime Minister and his policies explained why voters were so disillusioned with politicians.

And he urged the Tory leader and his shadow cabinet allies to consider what he described as the true record of the Blair decade - including "the bungled war on Iraq", "the sensational increases in tax without measurable improvement in services", and "his remorseless attacks on the conventional family".

Singling out immigration as a key issue, Lord Tebbit added: "It was Blair who introduced uncontrolled, unmeasured immigration of people determined not to integrate, but to establish, first ghettoes, and now demands for separate legal jurisdiction."

He said: "In Biblical terms, Blairism is the poisonous tree which can give forth only poisonous fruit and must be rooted out.

"In 2005 Blair had the votes of only 21.6 per cent of the electorate.

"With the poisonous tree of Blairism planted in the shadow cabinet, where can the other 78.4 per cent turn?"

Last summer, when the party was rocked by doubts about Mr Cameron's leadership, Lord Tebbit lashed out at the Old Etonian for being "out of touch with ordinary people" and not supporting grammar schools.

He also praised Gordon Brown for his "principled conduct", suggesting he was the real heir to Lady Thatcher.

A few weeks later Lord Tebbit was urged by William Hague at Tory conference to offer his advice "in private confidence, never through public self indulgence".

Lord Tebbit has been a thorn in Mr Cameron's side since the leadership contest, when he attacked him for failing to provide full details of his past drug use.