Tory mystery

What the current Conservative membership are to make of their party (your report, 7 June) is anyone’s guess. We have had the “no further” line in the sand from Scottish leader Ruth 
Davidson on more powers for Holyrood. Then it was “more powers, but not too many”.

But the final ignominy is for the head of the anti-independence Better Together campaign and former Chancellor Alistair Darling to be invited to address the Scottish Conservative Party’s conference at Stirling.

It is bizarre that while Mr Darling will be given the opportunity to inform the conference about his views on the Union and on powers for Holyrood, the party membership have been barred from discussing their own views on the matter – all to save embarrassment for party grandee Lord Strathclyde, who has been charged with coming up with proposals.

What a waste of an opportunity for him to hear first-hand what his membership think.

This mishandling can serve only to provide a propaganda platform for Mr Darling to 
exploit and to assist the return of Labour regimes at Holyrood and at Westminster, with the latter being assisted by the preponderance of Labour MPs we send there in such numbers that could deprive the English of the Conservative government they may well vote for – reminiscent of the case for devolution of Scots being governed by a 
regime they did not vote for.

Both Labour and the Conservatives are signed up to so-called extra powers from the Calman proposals which will come in in 2016 – if there is a No vote.

As both parties have compromised Calman by working up alternative powers, perhaps they could each explain what status Calman now has.

Douglas R Mayer

Thomson Crescent

Currie