Promoting the local economy?

Tweet Now, as a general rule, I'm all for promoting the local economy. And I can understand how any political party would seek to use its conference to "maximise the economic benefit for local businesses".

The Tories have always claimed to be the party of business of course, so when they hold their conference in Birmingham later this month, they will naturally be encouraging their delegates to make use of a range of local companies. They've had a PR firm help them by putting together a booklet full of useful information about the range of 'services' available to delegates locally.

According to this report from the BBC, the booklet, which has been distributed with the official conference literature in advance of the conference, even includes some helpful discount vouchers - for a £10 reduction on the entry charge to a lap dancing club in the city centre.

The club modestly describes itself as "an exclusive gentlemen's entertainment venue". In deciding to advertise in a booklet targeted at Tory delegates, I can only assume that the club is making a skilled and experienced judgement on the potential take-up for its services. But in this case, 'exclusive' presumably means that female conference delegates will be encouraged to seek their entertainment elsewhere.