Uk Conservatives Come Out Fighting

This is a party that is on its way to winning the next election, party chairman Brian Mawhinney said. We must win and we will win.

But the background to the gathering could hardly have been less auspicious, with the party split from top to bottom over Europe and demoralised by new allegations of political sleaze involving Conservative members of parliament.

A guerrilla attack on Monday on Britains main army base in Northern Ireland also underscored the fragility of what many see as John Majors biggest achievement in six years as prime minister