TORY leader William Hague's problems were compounded this morning by a further political blow which will overshadow the launch of his national unity tour.

Mr Hugh Dykes, the Europhile former Tory MP for Harrow East, announced his defection to the Liberal Democrats.

Mr Dykes, 58, who lost his seat at the General Election, served as an MP for 27 years, and was a long-standing critic of the party's drift towards an overtly anti-European policy.

A Liberal Democrat spokesman said: ''Mr Dykes has been concerned about the drift to the Tory party away from its One Nation values. He saw Kenneth Clarke's defeat in the leadership election as a final lost opportunity.''

Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown said: ''Hugh Dykes will find a warm welcome and natural home in the party.'' Mr Ashdown, in a statement, welcomed a ''politician of great integrity'' to his party.

A Conservative Central Office spokesman said: ''This hasn't really come as much of surprise. We are always sorry when someone leaves the party, but we look forward to winning back Harrow East at the next general election.''

Mr Dykes's strong pro-

European stance put him at odds with many of his Tory colleagues, with his own constituency party and with the new party leadership.

With his neighbouring Harrow West MP, Sir John Gorst, he also last year created alarm for the Tories - by then in a virtual Commons minority - by threatening to withdraw support from the Government if the proposed closure of the casualty unit at Edgware General Hospital in north London went ahead.

His quarrel with the Government escalated early this year when he agreed to join Labour-Liberal Democrat talks on constitutional reform.

Although he is no longer an MP and therefore has a lower profile since the election, Mr Dykes's defection will be a welcome boost for the Liberal Democrats as they prepare for their annual conference, starting next weekend in Eastbourne.

It may also help to take some of the heat off the controversy raised by Mr Ashdown last week when he spoke in an interview with the New Statesman magazine about the possibility of coalition with Labour.

Yesterday, on GMTV's Sunday Programme, Mr Ashdown played down the significance of his comments, insisting they were merely a reiteration of a long-held view.

Mr Dykes is not the first Tory to have defected to the Liberal Democrats in recent years.

Emma, now Baroness, Nicholson, then MP for Devon West and Torridge, crossed the floor on December 29, 1995.

Peter Thurnham joined after last year's Tory conference, having resigned the Tory whip earlier in the year. He stood down at the election as MP for Bolton North East.