Michael Howard's suggestion that Liverpool should revive their fortunes by sacking their manager has prompted Scottish MPs to accuse him of bias towards English clubs.Howard, who claims to be a Liverpool fan, was overheard at a reception at Conservative Central Office describing the team's performance as terrible and calling for Gerard Houllier to be succeeded by the Celtic manager, Martin O'Neill.

Brian Wilson, MP and Celtic supporter, said: "I can understand why Michael Howard envies Martin O'Neill's leadership qualities. Like any other Celtic supporter I hope that his ambition to see Martin at Liverpool has as little success as the Tories usually do in Glasgow."