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The Brighton bomb...
I had attended 7 previous Conservative Conferences but did not go to Brighton in 1984 because of work and a lack of cash. I did have friends that went along though non were well off enough to stay at The Grande, thankfully.
I awoke on that fateful morning to a Radio 4 report on what happened and could not believe my ears. How on earth could the IRA have got through the security to plant a bomb. We now know the answer was that it was done well before the Conference.
I spent the day glued to the radio and TV and at one point spotted a friend looking covered in dust and a bit shocked. He had been drinking in the bar just before the explosion, though not staying there. There was Mrs T, in her night clothes, Norman Tebbit being carried out of the rubble, and his wife seriously injured. I remember an announcement that M&S were opening up early to allow survivors to replace lost clothing and get to the Conference.
Yes, thats right, to get to the Conference. Mrs T ordered the Conference to go ahead, there was no way the IRA scum were going to stop our Conference.
That afternoon the Conference Hall was packed. When Mrs T arrived and many who had been with her in the hotel, there were huge cheers.
Shocked, saddened by the loss of friends, the terrorists were not going to win, Mrs T's defiance was simply magnificent. The whole country was behind her. That was the best response possible to the terrorists.
We now know that the man responsible, who was sent to prison for a minimum of 35 years, was allowed out after just 14 years and was totally unrepentant. Appalling.