Impressions of a first-time visitor to the Tory conference

This year’s, Tory party conference raised many troubling questions. What would happen to a high-speed-rail-project? What to do about inflation? Above all: why do so many Tories still wear ties?The tie, which has elsewhere largely fallen out of favour, was there in abundance. There were spotted ties and silk ties; floral ties and faded ties; a pheasant tie (its owner likes to eat them—pheasants, that is) and paisley ties. Some were worn on principle (“Got to keep up the high standards”). As midnight looms, a drunk Tory appears in a slightly askew bow tie. Conference, he slurs, is “good fun”. Behind him, a man in a stripy tie wobbles towards a flower bed.