The Conservatives have pledged a new crackdown on Whitehall waste.

The party launched an initiative on Thursday aimed at cutting inefficiency and red tape in government.

Leading an auditing group that will report to Tory leader Michael Howard is David James, former Millennium Dome trouble-shooter.

James has been tasked with finding ways to give taxpayers better value for money.

"What we are looking to do here is a much more comprehensive review which goes to the core of the process by which taxpayers' money is made available to the essential services of health, education and the armed services etc," James told the BBC.