Champagne flowed as the parties got under way at the Conservative conference last night.
Partygoers drank Lanson in the lobby of the Midland Hotel, and David Cameron faced embarrassment after being pictured with a glass of champagne in his hand at a party on the eve of shadow chancellor George Osborne's austerity speech.
Tory sources said chairman Eric Pickles's guidance that the conference should be “less champagne bubbles and more bubbling activity” was not an all-out ban on relaxing.

Do you know the Tory partygoers drinking champagne? If so email news@standard.co.uk
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The partygoers guzzling bubbly here are all Scots. They are (l to r) Andrea Stephenson, Operations Co-ordinator of the Scottish Conservative Party; Cllr Jason Rust, Conservative candidate for Edinburgh South West; John Lamont, Member of the Scottish Parliament for Roxburgh and Berwickshire; and Cllr Mark McInnes, Director of the Scottish Conservative Party.
- John Knox, Edinburgh, UK, 13/10/2009 16:34
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Looks like Irn Bru to me!
- John R., London SW, 06/10/2009 14:16
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maybe it's not champagne? maybe it's spumante? prosecco? british sparkling wine carefully sourced to support homegrown wineyards? it also could be german Sekt? or even (shudders) russian bubbly?
Not all that bubbles is champagne....
LOL!!!
- Juma, london, uk, 06/10/2009 13:46
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No wondert the bubbly. David Cameron stands to make £500,000 profit out of his plan to cut inheritance tax for the rich, it was revealed last night.
As the Tory leader refused to answer questions about his own personal wealth a Mirror investigation has found he would be one of the few to gain from slashing death taxes on multi-million pound estates.
He is expected to inherit £2.5million when his stockbroker father Ian dies. Under Labour plans to put the inheritance tax threshold at £750,000 he would pay 40% on £1.75 million – £700,000.
Under Tory plans to allow married couples to only pay tax on estates worth more than £2million he would pay £200,000 when his father dies.
- Keith Price, Luton England, 06/10/2009 13:20
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Morning:
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