Page "Federation of Conservative Students" Paragraph 21

In The Observer, Toby Young wrote: " As nights of mob terror go, last Monday's party at the Federation of Conservative Students ' Conference was pretty tame ".

Both Young and Sir Alfred Sherman believed that Gummer's actions were motivated by his opposition to the libertarian ideology of some of the FCS ' members which closely resembled some of Mrs Thatcher's personal beliefs.

Sherman wrote that Gummer's actions were " directed against the Prime Minister ".

Tim Hames and Nick Robinson later admitted that the bill presented for damage was less than £ 20, and that the media reports were as a result of an " astute spinning operation " by Wet delegates from the University of Oxford, who " directed journalists to students who offered harrowing accounts of the boorish behaviour of libertarian activists.