UK

Tories open annual conference with video tribute to Thatcher

Activists pay homage to former leader who died this year by shopping in her honour

Bottles of Margaret Thatcher themed beer are for sale in the Central Hall Foyer of Manchester Central on the second day of the Conservative Party conference. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Bloomberg
Mon Sep 30 2013 - 13:49

The British Conservative Party opened its annual conference with a video tribute to Margaret Thatcher, who died this year.

Activists paid homage in the approved free-market manner: by shopping. The official “Our Maggie” stall at the conference center in Manchester was piled with Thatcher-branded merchandise.

“Little Iron Lady” baby vests sold out immediately. “Iron Baby” bibs were still available.

A delegate holds a magazine with a portrait of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher on its cover, during the first day of the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester today. Photograph: Dave Thompson/PA Wire

Party members were offered the prospect of drying their crockery with a tea towel quoting her comment that “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” The back of the stall was stocked with “Our Maggie” beer, described as “a golden hoppy ale” that offered “a good balance of malt and fruity hop on the nose and the palate”.

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Absent was a planned ironing board cover, rejected because it turned out to be a fire risk.

“It wasn’t very heat-proof,” Scott Seaman-Digby, the party’s commercial director, said as he unpacked more baby vests. “We thought it could be potentially dangerous, because it melts.”

John Glen, a Tory MP, showed off his new cuff links. On one sleeve: "You Turn If You Want To," and on the other: "The Lady's Not For Turning."

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