Rumours were circulating yesterday about a Tory being arrested for nicking a bottle of champagne and also possibly expelled from the party. This morning the Manchester Evening News has an exclusive which says the person in question, who was not charged, has been banned from future conferences. A Tory spokesman said, "We have banned the individual from attending any further Conference events and are considering what further action may need to be taken."I guess this means from now on he'll be on the Fringe only.
The scary thing about this is if this sort of authoritarian stuff is going to be the attitude of the party in Opposition, what the hell is it actually going to be like in power? The ban on champagne was always ridiculous given that sponsors of events dish it out so it's hardly a recession busting thing when you're getting it free.
I can appreciate the need to make sure that things go well this week and it, in effect, uneventful and boring, but banning people from events and possibly taking even further action doesn't make the party a great standard bearer for liberty and freedom - the guy wasn't even charged.
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