Every leader tries to make a break with the past by changing the language. For some, this is political correctness. For others, it's political necessity.

	government policies are now "hollow", "superficial", "trivial" and "fiddles".	SO KEEN is William Hague to eliminate memories of failed Tory campaigns that he has purged key words and slogans from his party's lexicon. Under his latest modernisation plans, the Tory leader has banned any references that hark back to Labour's left-wing past or accuse Labour of posing a danger to Britain. One shadow cabinet member said last week: "The view is that it is no good repeating past mistakes, but some of us do feel it is reminiscent of Pol Pot's Year Zero." Among the phrases now eliminated from the party's vocabulary are some favourites of the old Tory high command. John Major used to favour soundbites such as "a return to tax and spend", while former ministers, including Kenneth Clarke and Michael Howard, played with slogans such as "New Labour, new danger". Margaret Thatcher was never happier than when attacking the old Labour legacy and its trade union past. All such references, however, are now banned from speeches and interviews. Instead, a new Haguespeak checklist of key words has been crafted by party strategists to resonate with voters who are sceptical about new Labour and its public relations machine. Words to describe government policies will now include "hollow", "superficial", "trivial" and "fiddle". Shadow ministers are arming themselves with the new soundbites in an attempt to convince the public that Labour abandoned its principles in order to gain power. These will include: "They are a party without conviction", "without principle", "lacking in direction"; "power has really gone to their heads"; "it is style over substance" and "are there no limits to their nanny state?" Ten days ago, Hague set an example by using the word "failure" seven times in a short statement. Tory strategists believe this repetition will remind voters of their fears that Labour is unable to deliver. In a speech two weeks ago to Parliamentary Mainstream, a pressure group on the Tory left, Hague set the ball rolling when he said: "New Labour lacks direction, lacks conviction and lacks purpose . . . What a classic case of the triumph of style over substance."
	Hague set an example by using the word "failure" seven times in a short statement	An analysis of the performance of shadow cabinet ministers in the past two weeks shows they have followed the edict. Their speeches are peppered with new Tory phrases. One of the most fluent in Haguespeak is Peter Ainsworth, shadow minister for culture, media and sport. In a speech last week he used the phrase "style over substance" four times in 80 seconds. He then managed to insert five key words - "shallow", "hollow", "superficial", "obsession" and "damaging" - into a single sentence. John Redwood, shadow trade and industry secretary, drove home his message that "Labour is bad for business" six times in 10 days - often repeating it several times on each occasion. John Simpson, chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary and a fellow in linguistics at Oxford University, said the new lexicon had been carefully selected to undermine Labour. "There is logic to their rhetoric," he said. "These are words that are being used as spoiling tactics. "They are an attempt to belittle Labour and put into people's minds that there is something wrong, uncertain or superficial about Labour. It is a clever marketing ploy." Some campaigning ideas have already foundered because they rely too heavily on a banned word. The shadow Treasury team wanted to characterise Gordon Brown, the chancellor, as old Labour, but this was vetoed by the Haguespeak censors. Instead, Brown was described as "reckless", keen to "go for broke on public spending" and reluctant to listen to experts. A plan to launch a drive on the back of The Sun's front-page article two months ago labelling Blair "the most dangerous man in Britain" for his policy on Europe was also dropped because it used the banned word "danger".
	there is something wrong, uncertain or superficial about Labour	Only one Tory frontbencher has shown signs of rebellion. Ann Widdecombe, shadow health minister, infuriated Francis Maude, the shadow chancellor, by opposing his criticism of Labour's rise in health spending. Other shadow ministers asked Hague to explain the benefits of the new policy to Widdecombe, and she will now be using the phrases. "I will be repeating the word 'fiddle' a lot in relation to health," she said. "It is an excellent idea."