The Best Placards and Costumes from This Year's Big Anti-Tory Protest

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The Best Placards and Costumes from This Year's Big Anti-Tory Protest

Every year that the Tories are in power, lefties gather outside their annual conference to march and shout. This year was no different.

As the wind starts to nip and you struggle to remember how warm / light all your jackets are, the British left holds a ceremony to mark the turning of the seasons.

Every year that the Conservatives are in power, protesters gather in their thousands at wherever the party is holding its annual conference to curse and heckle the Tories, like they're bad spirits at a pagan festival of winter. This year was no different; on Sunday, Birmingham was flooded with left-wingers chanting "Tories Out".

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It was a bit less rowdy than last year, when some young Tories were subjected to a merciless egging. Still, people were out in force. There were trade unionists, demonstrators wearing Jeremy Corbyn T-shirts, the obligatory smattering of Anonymous masks and people upset about Brexit chanting, "We love EU!" pronounced, "We love you" – which might have been misinterpreted as a welcome message to any passing Conservatives.

We sent VICE photographer Chris Bethell up to check it out.