Michael Howard has set out his party's vision for the development of a flexible EU.

Speaking in Berlin, the Conservative leader said that May's enlargement would "profoundly change the nature of the European Union".

Arguing that every country approached international affairs on the basis of its own history and culture, Howard said there was "no European national identity".

Interviewed in the FT, Howard insists that he wants Britain to remain a "positive and influential member of the EU" but rules out taking the country into the euro.

He also holds out the prospect of the Tories standing at the next election with a commitment to offer billions of pounds of tax cuts.

Meanwhile figures have revealed that the Conservatives have more members than Labour for the first time since 1997.