To the Carlton Club, where Mr S found himself on Thursday evening at the seventh Margaret Thatcher Centre lecture. A smorgasbord of stars turned out in black tie to honour the late Prime Minister, with Lord Frost delivering the keynote address to the enthusiastic applause of the dozens of assembled Tories including Priti Patel. But it was the opening remarks by Conor Burns – a close friend of Lady Thatcher – which impressed many in attendance.
The Bournemouth West MP recounted the tale of his recent suspension from the parliamentary party, after being accused of misconduct at the annual Tory conference in October. Burns lost the Tory whip and was sacked by Liz Truss as a Trade minister; a subsequent party investigation has since cleared him, having concluded there was ‘no basis on which to investigate further.’ With tears in his eyes, Burns rose to tell the assembled crowd on Thursday night that:
I would not wish what has happened to me on my worst enemy… Our system in this country is incredibly precious and it’s hard-fought.
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