Michael Howard has launched his party's manifesto for the European parliamentary elections with a warning that "Europe must change".

Lambasting Brussels red tape and regulation, the Tory leader said he wanted to end the "one size fits all" culture.

Promising a "modern and mature approach", he said his party wanted to develop a "live and let live" model for the European union.

And, calling for decentralisation and the repeal of regulation, he said his party would stand firm in its opposition to the EU constitution.

Speaking in Manchester before departing for Edinburgh and Cardiff on Thursday, Howard said the treaty currently under discussion would give the EU the "trappings of statehood".

"Conservatives don't want a European constitution," he said.