THE Tory government decided to push the self-destruct button right in the middle of its own conference. Normally guaranteed to be the showcase that gets them good headlines, instead Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng engineered a financial crisis before the conference and crowned this with an embarrassing U-turn in the middle of their showcase event.

To get a sense why, I went to a Tory conference fringe meeting organised by the Thatcherite Centre for Policy Studies titled “What would Maggie do.” The short answer for how the Tories screwed themselves is that a life-size cardboard cut-out of Thatcher was put on the platform, as if this lifeless icon could join the debate.  

The real-life Thatcher was a tactical fighter for their side, who by a mix of force and guile transferred money and power from working people to big business and the rich. Unable to repeat the trick, the Tories have settled for a cardboard imitation, which is rigid, thin and doesn’t work.