TWO Tory frontbenchers launched furious attacks on Gordon Brown yesterday, accusing him of exploiting Baroness Thatcher's "frailty" and "loneliness" to score a "nauseating" cheap political point.

Shadow Higher Education Minister Rob Wilson said the way the Prime Minister handled his predecessor's visit to Downing Street had been "self-serving and unscrupulous".

Baroness Thatcher would not have allowed herself to be used for Mr Brown's publicity stunt if she was still at the "peak of her powers", Mr Wilson added.

Many Tory MPs have privately expressed anger at the scenes on Thursday, when the Iron Lady and the former Iron Chancellor posed for photos and smiled on the doorstep to Number 10.

Mr Wilson told BBC Radio 4: "Baroness Thatcher at 81 - we know she's frail, we know she's lonely, and she does have difficulty, without going into too much detail, with her memory.

"I think we're asking the question: do we think it's right to exploit Lady Thatcher in what could be described as a self-serving and unscrupulous way?"

Mr Wilson said the event at Downing Street had been a very carefully choreographed publicity stunt. "He could have done this privately, there was no need to invite the press to be outside Number 10," he said.

"This was all about dog whistles to Conservative-minded voters to say, 'Look, Lady Thatcher gave me her blessing, it's okay, you can vote for Gordon Brown'."

The MP added: "I think Margaret Thatcher at the peak of her powers would certainly not have countenanced being used in this way."

Mr Wilson was supported by Shadow Defence Minister Gerald Howarth, a friend of Baroness Thatcher. "Everyone knows that she is not in the same rude health she was a few years ago, but I personally believe that this Prime Minister is every bit as manipulative as the previous one," he said.

"For a man who has spent his whole political life castigating the Conservatives I find this nauseating - to see him trying to cash in on the public affection for Lady Thatcher."

However, a spokesman for Lady Thatcher said yesterday: "It was courteous and kind of the Prime Minister to invite her."

He added: "To suggest that she was not aware of the political implications of it would be wrong."