The collective nervous breakdown of the Conservative party

A week after the Labour party conference made the best available case for Theresa May’s government, it is the Conservative’s turn to persuade the country that a Labour government, compared to the alternatives available, might not be such a complete disaster after all. Such is the way of party conferences these days.

And it cannot be said that the Conservative gathering in Birmingham has got off to a great start. Indeed, all the signs are that this is a party experiencing a nervous breakdown. It looks at the Labour party – a party which, tellingly, welcomed back Derek Hatton last week – and wonders why on earth it isn’t pummelling the hell out of these Trots and Sparts. Something, somewhere, has gone very badly wrong.

The answer, as so often, lies within. This is not the Tory party of old, that much is clear. Unfortunately it is not the Tory party of the future, either.