George Osborne’s right-hand patsy Danny Alexander was heckled by his own delegate this afternoon as he accused Gordon Brown of “unsustainable spending”. Having begun his conference speech with a tribute to his grandfather Andrew Sturgess, however, he would surely be able to rely on a fulsome review from the nonagenarian, who joined the historic Liberal Party in the 1930s.
But after a mixed speech which had the press room collectively groaning at a terrible “it’s all Balls” quip at the shadow chancellor, the most Beaker’s grandad could muster was:
“I thought he was improving. I agreed with most of it. I’m not sure about the planning stuff but I’ll talk to him about that.”
With family like that who needs angry delegates?