The Charter group is campaigning for one-member-one-vote democracy in the Tory Party like Labour to raise its membership

The Charter group is campaigning for one-member-one-vote democracy in the Tory Party, like Labour, to raise its membership.Dr Mawhinney, Kenneth Clarke, the Chancellor, and Michael Heseltine, the deputy Prime Minister, tried to lift the morale of the conference of about 600 party workers by holding out the hope of an economic recovery.. Labour has protested at the Tories seeking financial support from foreign backers, but the sources confirmed a recent report in the Independent that more money is being raised in regional fund-raising events, including key businessmen in Yorkshire.A party source admitted for the first time that the party was close to bankruptcy in 1993."We wondered whether we could pay the staff at the end of the month at least on two occasions, when we thought we could go bankrupt."The turn-around was achieved by cuts in staffing at Conservative Central Office but the party chairman, Brian Mawhinney, said an increase in donations had reduced the overdraft with the Bank of Scotland. The Bank allowed the overdraft against the leasehold on its Smith Square headquarters -the party sold the freehold in the 1980s - and never called in the loan. "A range of people are giving sums which are substantial but not massive."The size of the reduction in the overdraft is certain to lead to speculation about the identity of the donors, who are being kept a secret by the Tory Party. The Tory Party's plans for fighting the General Election were given a boost last night by the disclosure that the party had slashed its overdraft by pounds 8m to pounds 2.5m. Senior party sources claimed the cut in the pounds 10.5m overdraft had been achieved by increased donations, mainly from small businesses, and individual donors, opposed to Labour policies for a minimum wage, and the workers' rights under the European social chapter. Some party sources said pounds 18m had been received in donations over the past 12 months, from small businesses rather than large companies. Ministers decided that if Fleet Street would not print the good news about Britain, they would do it themselves, but their foray into journalism proved short-lived.Tory spin-doctors claimed the decision had been taken for "technical reasons" But a source said: "It was the beef that did it They thought that the good news wouldn't work.".

The first edition was due to be launched at the Conservative Party's spring conference in the town by Brian Mawhinney, the chairman of the party. It was to carry lively pieces extolling the virtues of the British economy, with good news about the amount of overseas investment being made in Britain.There was also to be an overseas section with reports from abroad on what the foreigners are saying about Britain.Edited by a former Daily Express deputy editor, one insider said: "It was classier than most of the mid-market tabloids." Unkinder critics said it was like the Daily Express but with less Tory propaganda.The brainchild of Sir Tim Bell and Maurice Saatchi, the Tory party's advertising advisers, the decision to launch a newspaper followed the political Cabinet meeting 10 days ago which pondered over the mystery of why the good news in the economy was not translating into a "feelgood factor". The bad news about BSE in British beef claimed another victim in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, yesterday - a Tory party tabloid dedicated to spreading the "good news". At the last election, we were dealing with a deficit of pounds 11m; it was one of the reasons why we opted for a poster campaign and not advertisements in newspapers. It means we can be much more flexible in our campaign next time," said the source.The overdraft cut came as Tory activists warned membership was in decline.

Graham Pycock, a member of the Dulwich and West Norwood Tories, and press officer of the Tory Charter group, said Labour Party membership was set to exceed Tory membership for the first time.The Charter group is campaigning for one-member-one-vote democracy in the Tory Party, like Labour, to raise its membership.. on two occasions, when we thought we could go bankrupt." The turn-around was achieved by staff cuts at Conservative Central Office but the party chairman, Brian Mawhinney, said an increase in donations had reduced the overdraft with the Bank of Scotland.The bank allowed the overdraft against the leasehold on the party's Smith Square headquarters - it sold the freehold in the 1980s - and never called in the loan.Sources said that the bank was now "more relaxed"."It means we will have a great deal more room for manoeuvre in the general election campaign. Labour has protested at the Tories seeking financial support from foreign backers but the sources confirmed an Independent report that more money is being raised in regional fund-raising events, including key businessmen in Yorkshire.For the first time, a source admitted the party was near bankruptcy in 1993."We wondered whether we could pay the staff ... Sources said the cut had been achieved by increased donations, mainly from small businesses, and individual donors opposed to Labour policies for a minimum wage and workers' rights under the European social chapter. Some sources said pounds 18m had been received in donations over the past 12 months, from small businesses rather than large companies."A range of people are giving sums which are substantial but not massive."The size of the overdraft reduction is certain to lead to speculation about the identity of the donors, who are being kept a secret by the party. Tory plans for fighting the general election were boosted last night by the disclosure that the party had slashed its overdraft by pounds 8m to pounds 2.5m.

And Mr Heseltine had been quick to criticise Clare Short, Labour's transport spokeswoman, when she suggested that legalisation of soft drugs should be considered.It was astonishing, he said then, that "someone who could be a minister of the Crown should actually want to legalise drugs".But after making it clear that he did not support his daughter's views, Mr Heseltine insisted: "I am very proud of her She has her own views. I will not get involved in controversy with her."That should make things easier when he gets back to the Heseltine household.. Sir Nicholas Scott, the former social security minister, and his daughter, Victoria, had a public clash of views over provision for the disabled.However, the timing of Ms Heseltine's intervention could hardly be worse - coming a day before Michael Howard, the Home Secretary, tells the conference about the Tories' plans for a fresh crackdown on drug dealers. The Deputy Prime Minister brushed off her remarks as nothing more than a youthful indiscretion "She's an adult. It's not my job to argue with my daughter and try to second guess my daughter," he said as he was challenged about her remarks. "You would not do it to your daughter," he told journalists. Mr Heseltine suggested that his daughter was following her career as an ambitious journalist "She has a career of her own.