When Douglas Ross saw the outcry over Sunak's D-Day insult, he must have though 'hold my beer' - Jackie Baillie

He left them on the beaches. Rishi Sunak’s abandonment of the D-Day veterans at the Normandy commemoration for a TV interview will go down as the defining moment of the Tory election campaign. Followed closely by the downpour announcement of the election which appears to have triggered the beginning of the end of his time in charge.

Amusing as a rain-soaked Sunak was, his decision to leave the 80th anniversary was insulting and disrespectful. What happened to duty, what happened to the responsibility of office, the privilege of public service?

You would think abandoning wartime veterans was a low enough bar for the Tories. But when Douglas Ross saw the public’s gasps of astonishment over his leader’s behaviour he must have just thought: “Hold my beer”.

They say in politics that the opposition is in front of you but your enemies are behind you. As backstabbing goes, the Tories treatment of David Duguid is frankly appalling. On behalf of the Scottish Labour Party, I wish David a full and speedy recovery.

But instead of wishing the ailing MP well, the Tories dispatched him to the sidelines in the middle of the night and Douglas Ross declared himself the new Tory candidate in the seat the next day.

No wonder local members were furious. As political assassinations go it was a contemptuous and morally bankrupt episode which will be the Tory party’s epitaph.

Rounded on by MSP colleagues Douglas Ross has conceded he will give up one of his three jobs - MP, MSP and football referee. He just hasn’t quite decided which one yet, but of course that decision is down to the judgement of the voters.

The prospect of a Tory insurrection has forced him to announce he will stand down as Scottish Conservative leader. An unprecedented move - the first time a leader has quit during an election campaign.

Will the Scottish Tories split off from their UK party? Who will be the new leader? What will now surely follow is a period on infighting and a loss of focus on the people’s priorities. For Tory members how very disappointing.

The people of the north east deserve better than a part-time politician and Scotland deserves better than this chaotic and dysfunctional Tory government.

Even after their desperate manifesto launch this week, promising even more unfunded tax cuts, people will remember that the Tories have hiked tax in the UK 26 times and made £71 billion worth of unfunded promises. The only person putting public finances at risk is Rishi Sunak.

Labour will treat public money with respect and we will not hike income tax, National Insurance or VAT. We will deliver stability and common sense. Our party has been transformed and unified as others disintegrate into civil war.

This is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss – by voting Scottish Labour we can make sure we get rid of this rotten Tory government and restore integrity, honesty and economic stability in politics.

It is time for change and neither the failing Tory government or the incompetent SNP government can deliver it. Only Labour can deliver the change that Scotland needs.