Former Conservative MP Howard Flight has launched a ferocious attack on his own party leadership for dumping him before the General Election.

Mr Flight, who was banned from standing for re-election in Arundel after saying a Conservative Government would pursue a "continuing agenda" of spending cuts, told The Argus: "What happened to me was the sort of thing that happened politically in continental Europe in the Thirties.

"I want to see a proper democratic party true to our traditions and I don't want it to be a semi-fascist party, which is what happens when there is too much power at the centre."

Mr Flight, who said party bigwigs were re-examining his case to determine whether he had been treated fairly, said the comments for which he was sacked were nothing more than a reflection of mainstream Conservative thinking.

He said: "I was articulating Conservative policy - that we will strive to get lower taxation and we will continue to make the public sector more efficient."

Mr Flight said his comments had been "spun" by journalists into a secret agenda for spending cuts and accused Michael Howard of overreacting.

He said: "In the desire to kill that story it was decided I would be killed."

The City fund manager, who had represented Arundel and South Downs since 1997, was sacked from his post as deputy party chairman and had his whip withdrawn on the grounds he had brought the Conservatives into disrepute.

The leadership decided that under party rules this meant he was no longer allowed to defend his seat as a Tory candidate.

The action angered many constituency party members and the Arundel MP denied Mr Howard had the right to prevent him standing and threatened legal action.

In the end, Mr Flight gave way gracefully to avoid damaging the party but only after a tense two-week stand-off between his constituency supporters and the leadership.

Mr Flight has now broken his silence and said his case should have been referred to the party's integrity and ethics committee and his candidacy should have been determined by a special meeting of his local party.

He accused the party's central command of blocking the holding of a special meeting and bullying local members into accepting Mr Howard's decision.

He said: "Tactics of bullying were wholly inappropriate. These are not the actions of a democratic party. The party has acted outrageously towards me and most of the shadow Cabinet and MPs were outraged at the action."

Since polling day and Michael Howard's subsequent announcement that he is soon to resign as Tory leader, the Howard Flight affair has faded from the headlines.

But the fallout continues to unfold away from the media's glare.

The Tory hierarchy has been struggling to keep a lid on a revolt among supporters of Mr Flight who feel he was badly treated by the leadership.

Mr Howard's swift resign-ation announcement, the morning after the Tories' defeat, did much to defuse the desire for revenge among Mr Flight's friends.

Even so, the grudge remains. Right-winger Eric Forth has been telling colleagues of a list of 30 MPs' names he has compiled to force a vote of confidence in Mr Howard.

Former shadow home secretary Anne Widdecombe has also made little secret of her anger about Mr Flight's summary dismissal.

A senior Conservative, who has been loyal to Mr Howard's leadership, suggested the speed of his resignation announcement had been influenced by the impending row. He said: "Part of the reason he decided to stand down was to avoid the row over Mr Flight's sacking."

Since his exit from the political stage, Mr Flight has been exploring opportunities in his former City career of investment management.

But Mr Flight remains a paid-up member of the Arundel and South Downs Conservative Association and is hopeful of a political comeback.

His case will now be reviewed by Lord Kingsland, the Conservative's shadow lord chancellor, a process which could take up to a year.

"I've no intention of giving up politics," Mr Flight told The Argus.

"I think it's widely accepted by MPs that what happened to me was unjust and wrong.

My erstwhile colleagues are looking to find a way to bring me back. "But I don't know how that will be yet."

The Howard Flight affair has also led the party hierarchy to re-examine its rule book concerning the sacking of MPs.

The Argus has learned sacked MPs are to be given a right of appeal, an avenue which was not open to Mr Flight in March.

Under the new rules, there will be a formal right of appeal, to be heard privately, in a bid to avoid a repeat of the embarrassingly public test of nerve.

The reforms are now being drawn up by the 1922 Committee - which represents backbench Tory MPs - and the Conservative Convention of Local Associations.