The Conservative Party Conference in which Theresa May promised to “look beyond Europe” is being held in a conference hall paid for by the European Union.

As pointed out in an amusing letter submitted to the Financial Times, Birmingham International Convention Centre received £49.7 million of its construction costs from the European Regional Development Fund.

Indeed, the foundation stone was laid by European Commission president Jacques Delors.

Prime Minister May has used the conference to unveil plans to trigger Article 50 by March, saying the UK will be “a fully-independent, sovereign country” that will no longer be in the “jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice”.

She said Brexit “should make us think of Global Britain, a country with the self-confidence and the freedom to look beyond the continent of Europe and to the economic and diplomatic opportunities of the wider world.”

And pay for our own conference centres!

Amusingly sassy letters in FT today. pic.twitter.com/S69UMsTd1o — Duncan Robinson (@duncanrobinson) October 4, 2016