At the next election, the Conservatives will make a clean break with Thatcherism and the ideological dogma of the past, the party's policy chief said last night.

David Cameron said the manifesto will offer practical Conservatism for the modern age.

Delivering the Keith Joseph Memorial Lecture, he argued that Margaret Thatcher's policies were a response to the severe economic and social problems of her time, adding that her free-market approach may not necessarily be right for today's problems.