Murdo Fraser: Union can be saved if Tories embrace change

We live in an absurd political climate. Alex Salmond, a centre-left Scottish nationalist, has won the votes of possibly hundreds of thousands of centre-right Scottish unionists. He has scored with these voters because our party has not been covering the goals. Rightly or wrongly, the public thinks there is no effective centre-right, pro-Scottish party, and understandably they have punished us for not fulfilling their requirements. I do not believe for one second that the majority of people in Scotland want our country to be separated from the United Kingdom, but we will be complacent about this at our peril.

I believe our party can help to secure a ‘no’ vote to the independence question. However, in order to be a help rather than a hindrance, we need to make the correct diagnosis of our current illness. An ORB poll conducted for the party before the May election showed that only six per cent of people thought we put Scottish interests first, with 50 per cent believing we put English issues first. There are hundreds of thousands of centre-right voters who want to see Scottish interests put first, and it is abundantly clear that those people are simply not prepared to listen to the Conservatives, let alone vote for us.

Some people believe we do not need to change to solve this problem. They believe we simply need a new face who shouts louder. This theory has been tested to destruction over the last 15 years. If you offer someone a cheeseburger and they say no, you should not go back and offer them a double cheeseburger. Einstein said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

My prescription is radically different. We need to open our minds to the fact that ‘Unionism’ is not a fixed point on the constitutional spectrum. In his endorsement of me last week, Sir Malcolm Rifkind said that we must maintain our values and beliefs but never fear to move with the times. Sir Malcolm has been a voice of clarity and calmness during a time of heated debate, and his conclusion is well worth listening to.

Moving with the times involves embracing a New Unionism; a New Unionism with a new, progressive, distinctly Scottish centre-right party at its core, which unites us as a movement; a New Unionism that calls for a more decentralised United Kingdom, at ease with itself, knowing that the whole will always be greater than the sum of the parts.

The centre-right Unionists in Scotland who currently vote for Alex Salmond believe in New Unionism. It is the failure of our party to embrace New Unionism that has led to defeat after defeat at elections, and it would be the continued failure of our party to embrace new Unionism which would place our United Kingdom in greatest jeopardy.

There is a “shout louder” brigade in our party which has completely failed to recognise that, in post-devolution Scotland, the rules of the game have changed. It is not possible to construct a positive narrative about the future of Scotland unless we recognise this.

Instead, we need to make the positive case that Scotland’s best interests are served by maintaining and strengthening our place within a devolved settlement for the United Kingdom. I bow to nobody in my commitment to the United Kingdom. I am proud to be British, and I even wear Union Jack cufflinks just in case anyone forgets! The UK is the most successful economic, political, social and monetary Union in the history of the world. However, we will not save the Union by losing all the time; alienating more and more voters at every election because of our inability to change and our inability to stand up credibly and effectively for Scotland.

All Scottish Conservatives should ask themselves a simple question: if I were Alex Salmond, against a backdrop of opinion polls showing that Scots want to take more responsibility over their own affairs, and following on from a landslide victory in a Scottish election campaign, would I rather fight a separation referendum campaign against a party run from London and regarded as anti-Scottish, or a renewed party which puts Scottish interests first and appeals to hundreds of thousands of progressive, centre-right voters who currently vote SNP.

Anyone who thinks that Mr Salmond would rather be up against my new party must be referred back to Mr Einstein. That is why I believe my candidacy has the backing of the majority of MSPs and dozens of councillors; of our MEP and thousands of our hard-working volunteers. They know what life is currently like at the political coal face.

This leadership contest will define the future of our party and the referendum will decide the future of our country. It is change or die. And it is a bad time to make the wrong decision.

• Murdo Fraser is an MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, and deputy leader of the Scottish Conservatives