London members of the RMT transport union, the train drivers' Aslef union and the Bectu broadcasting union have been refused a vote.Labour's high command said the London area of MSF failed to pay its party affiliation fees by the 31 December 1998 deadline and therefore forfeited its right to participate in the selection process.Lawyers for the "MSF six" said Labour did not warn the union that its voting power would be removed when it paid the pounds 1 a head subscription in July this year and could not lawfully introduce a ban subsequently. He said the Tory Party had changed, and he had not seen a "blue rinse" for a long time.He has written to Mr Hague opposing the leader's earlier hardline stance on section 28 - the law banning the promotion of homosexuality in schools, which led to Mr Woodward's defection. Mr Boff welcomed the search for a Tory compromise on the issue.In his manifesto, he opposed Tory plans to privatise the London Underground - although he said it would be inevitable - and called for a multi-billion- pound investment in London transport by the taxpayer.. "Is he planning to stand as independent if he doesn't get the Tory nomination?" asked one senior Conservative.Mr Boff, a former Tory leader of the London borough of Hillingdon, said he would not be tearing up his Tory membership card, and he remained a Conservative.

As the only openly gay Conservative candidate in the race, he said his sexuality was not an issue in the Tory race. It is the only way that we can put London's future first."His remarks were seen as a clear attempt to distance himself from the leadership after a series of blows to Mr Hague, including chaos over the mayoralty race caused by Lord Archer's resignation, and the defection to Labour of Shaun Woodward, the former Tory communications director, who alleged the party had lurched to the right under Mr Hague."He's just handed the Tory nomination to Steve Norris," said a Labour spokesman His outspoken comments dismayed the Tory party leadership. I will not be bound by a Conservative manifesto at a future general election. This is the Boff campaign for which I am seeking the support of the London Conservative Party. I believe it is important that an independent stance is emphasised."I will not be fighting for a particular ideology I will be fighting on the basis of my manifesto I believe that independence is important. Where chemical dispersals are used to break up oil, then the chemicals will only add to the pollution."Landscape uprooted, page 11.

WILLIAM HAGUE faced more embarrassment last night after a Tory candidate for the mayor of London disowned the leadership and said he would be fighting on an independent manifesto. In a fresh twist to the farce over the selection of a Tory candidate for the race, Andrew Boff said he was seeking the support of the Tory party in a ballot of its 38,000 London members but he would not be bound by any of the Conservative leadership's policies. Describing himself as the only "true, independent choice that the voters have in London", Mr Boff said: "I will not be bound by collective responsibility of the Shadow Cabinet. Environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth has sent investigators to examine the spill, which has left thousands of birds suffering.The group's Tony Juniper said: "Any alleged clean-up operation now will be for a public relations, rather than environmental, purpose... But when the consignment landed in the UK yesterday, rescuers were horrified to discover hundreds of dead and dying animals.Mr Tresidder added: "They should have at least cleaned out their beaks but it seems they didn't even do that. It appears they have just been stuffed into boxes - they were very ill to start with and they really didn't stand a chance." Ten full-time members of staff and 20 volunteers were waiting at the centre to receive the stricken birds. And it appears some of the birds had been in the boxes for up to 24 hours before travel."The RSPCA declared The Erika oil spill a "major incident" after it was revealed that 12,000 birds had been treated for oil pollution.