One conference with two messages

摘要

There are two simultaneous events at the Conservative Party conference. In the main hall are the Soviet Party Congress-style plenaries in which a succession of ministers dutifully read out the latest tractor production figures and the five-year plans to regular applause. In these plenaries all is rosy, hundreds of thousands of houses are being built, the economy is booming, old people are happy and looked after in their shiny new care homes, the NHS is awash with cash and we march to a sunlit tomorrow.