Britain's main opposition party yesterday slammed Foreign Secretary Robin Cook's handling of his review of relations with Overseas Territories.

A spokesman for Conservative Shadow Foreign Secretary Michael Howard said: "This review is yet another example of Robin Cook's failure to attain any grasp of diplomacy.

"His style is characterised by a cavalier attitude to foreign affairs with little thought or concern for the impact of his actions on the lives of other people.'' And a Labour insider said that the review -- announced in Febraury -- has been dogged by infighting among Ministers.

He claimed that Mr. Cook had clashed with Overseas Development Minister Clare Short over who had responsibility for the Overseas Territories.

The row culminated in the appointment of Baroness Symons as junior Minister with special responsibility for the former colonies.

And a separate row with Home Secretary Jack Straw over passports for the fewer-than-200,000 people in the remaining Territories is understood to have held up the review further.

The Conservative spokesman said: "There was a real difficulty between the Foreign Office and the Department of International Development.'' And he claimed Labour's attempts to create "a foreign policy with ethical dimensions'' had descended into "a fiasco.'' The Conservative Party was in power when the 1981 Nationality Act left citizens of the then-Dependent Territories with second-class passports.

The move came as part of the run-up to the handover of Hong Kong to Communist China and amid fears that millions of Hong Kong residents with UK passports could flee to Britain.

But the Conservative spokesman said: "It's an issue which has different complications depending on when it's examined.'' Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell's views were less damning of the Labour Government.

He said: "In this classic schoolteacher's judgment, there has been some improvement shown -- but more is needed.'' Mr. Campbell added that the Liberal Democrats' position was that the citizens of the Overseas Territories should never have lost their full UK passports in the first place.

But he said: "One has to say there has been some improvement in the handling of Britain's relations with the Overseas Territories.

"It has to be remembered, however, that they are not all exactly the same and the conditions and circumstances of each Territory is different.

"What is needed is a country-by-country approach and not the imposition of blanket conditions.

"Anything Britain does should depend on the individual characteristics of each Overseas Territories and upon the wishes of their citizens.'' And he added weight to the view that an offer of full UK citizenship would not be tied to a two-way street deal on residency.

Mr. Campbell said: "I would not expect reciprocity to be an issue. There is no need for it and the question is really one of Britain's responsibilities to the Territories.'' But he warned that fears over the result of what is seen as a worldwide attempt to crack down on offshore jurisdictions would depend on the Territories themselves.

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