Conservative MPs have lined up to criticise the government’s proposed planning reforms in the wake of the party’s shock defeat in the Chesham and Amersham by-election, with former leader Lord Hague comparing the proposals to the “poll tax”.

Hague used an article in the Times to call for the government to reconsider its reforms, while a raft of Conservative backbench MPs yesterday used a Labour-convened debate to press for changes to the policies laid out in last year’s Planning for the Future white paper.

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