Critics accuse Brown of using Thatcher

LONDON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher did not feel current Prime Minster Gordon Brown exploited her with his invitation to tea, her spokesman said.

“It is nonsense," her spokesman told The Times of London, a day after Thatcher visited Brown at 10 Downing Street.

Conservatives believe Brown used the elderly Thatcher in a “shallow, self-serving and unscrupulous way," Rob Wilson said in an essay on the Web site ConservativeHome.com.

“Baroness Thatcher is 81, she is elderly, she is lonely, she is frail and she has difficulty with her memory,” Wilson wrote.

Thatcher's spokesman rejected the description of her as inaccurate and said Thatcher previously had been invited for tea by former prime ministers Tony Blair and John Major.

“It is a natural thing for a prime minister to do," the spokesman said. "It was very nice for her to be back and it brought back a lot of memories.”