THE PRESSURE on Conservative MPs facing allegations of sleaze and financial irregularities increased from within the party yesterday, with the intervention of three senior backbenchers who urged sacrifice for the sake of the party.
As the Tory election campaign is overshadowed by one scandal after another, the party suffered another blow with the resignation of the chairman of the Scottish Conservative Party, Sir Michael Hirst. This came on Saturday following allegations of a homosexual affair.
However, the manner in which the Prime Minister, Mr John Major, supported Sir Michael's decision is being seen as a deliberate message to errant members of the party to stand aside. Sir Michael's resignation was "made [so] speedily and in [such] a courageous and honourable manner", Mr Major said. The hard line was echoed by party chairman, Dr Brian Mawhinney, who insisted "we want to draw a line under this and quickly".
Both are believed to want Mr Neil Hamilton, the MP at the centre of the cash for questions affair, and Mr Piers Merchant who is accused of having an affair with a 17 year old nightclub hostess to resign before the Tories launch their manifesto on Wednesday.
But the veiled message has not worked. Mr Merchant's local Conservative Association in Beckenham, Kent, defied Central Office by voting 43-3 to support him. They accepted his explanation that he was the victim of "a very carefully orchestrated set up".
The backbench Tory MP Sir Teddy Taylor said he was in no doubt that MP's facing accusations over their conduct should step down. "The sensible thing is simply to move away from the scene on the basis that if they are latterly found innocent by the committee, then of course they can come back at a later stage," he told the BBC yesterday.
Clearly angry that Mr Hamilton and Mr Merchant have embarrassed the Tories, Sir Teddy has, said publicly what many in the party are thinking in private; that MPs accused of sleaze or financial irregularities, whether or not they are innocent, should sacrifice themselves for the good of the party.
His comments were joined by, those of fellow Tory MP's, Sir James Spicer, who said it was "a tragedy" that the Conservatives found themselves in this position before an election, and Mr John Townend, who urged every Conservative candidate to "examine his conscience" before standing for election.
Meanwhile, Mr Hamilton has risked breaching parliamentary privilege by releasing transcripts of evidence given to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. The MP has said his decision "is my way of fighting back. It is all out war now".
One of the transcripts, made available to a Sunday newspaper, is an interview given by Mr alFayed, the owner of Harrods, to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Sir Gordon Downey. Mr al-Fayed has said he gave thousands of pounds to Mr Hamilton and the former Tory MP, Mr Tim Smith, in return for asking questions in the House of Commons about the sale of Harrods. Mr Smith resigned last week when he admitted that he had failed to declare up to £25,000 paid to him by Mr al-Fayed.
Alarmed by leaked extracts of the investigation into "cash for questions" appearing in the Guardian newspaper last week, Mr Hamilton is suggesting it had no more than Mr al-Fayed's word against his when it published the original allegations against him and Mr Smith in 1994.
Mr Hamilton's troubles are far from over, however, since the Labour Party insists it will withdraw its candidate from the Tatton seat and fight on an independent "anti sleaze" platform unless he stands down. The party's key election strategist, Mr Peter Mandelson, predicted that as long as Mr Hamilton remained Labour would not let the issue disappear.