Tories ‘risk gravest mistake since Bonnie Prince Charlie U-turn’

THE Scottish Conservative leadership battle has intensified after Lord Forsyth described Murdo Fraser’s plans to disband the party in Scotland as the “greatest political error” since the Jacobite Army turned back at Derby. Former Scottish Secretary Lord Forsyth, who is supporting rival candidate Ruth Davidson’s bid for the leadership, warned that Mr Fraser’s “abolitionists” will “plunge the party into years of internal strife”.

Lord Forsyth made the comparison with Bonnie Prince Charlie’s disastrous retreat, in response to a message of support for Mr Fraser by another Tory grandee, Sir Michael Rifkind.

Sir Michael has aligned himself with Mr Fraser’s attempt to persuade the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party to sever direct links with the UK Conservatives and form a new centre-right party north of the Border.

Mr Fraser has argued that his plan is reminiscent of the heyday of right-wing politics in Scotland when the antecedents of today’s Scottish Tories – the Unionist Party – held 36 of the 71 Scottish seats at Westminster.

But Lord Forsyth said: “Harping back to the halcyon days of the 1950s when Scottish Conservatives had 50 per cent of the vote is misleading and misguided.

“Abandoning our party now would be the greatest political error since Bonnie Prince Charlie, on the advice of fainthearts, turned back at Derby to face certain defeat.”

Lord Forsyth added: “It would condemn the Scottish Tories to years of internal constitution wrangling when it is our duty to fight to preserve the United Kingdom and Scotland’s future prosperity.”

Mr Fraser’s campaign team reacted by taking a thinly veiled swipe at the style of language used by Lord Forsyth.

Mr Fraser’s campaign manager Liz Smith said: “It’s extremely important that we avoid negative campaigning and temper our language.

“Murdo’s team and his supporters will continue to present a positive vision for the future and I’m sure the members expect that from all of the candidates.

“It is clear that our party has an identity problem which cannot be solved by a new leader alone or by new policies.

“We respect the party’s establishment figures enormously, and we respect the view expressed by some of them that we do not need to change. However, we fundamentally disagree.”

Yesterday Mr Fraser released a document designed to explain precisely how he intends to revitalise right-wing politics in Scotland.

Crucially, it reassured Conservative members that he would only break away from the UK party if his proposal to do so was approved by members at a special conference.

The statement said: “Sir Malcolm Rifkind, one of our party’s most celebrated figures, thinks [this] proposal can transform the centre-right and save the Union, and his calm, considered view is one which we share and which thousands of our members are listening to.”

Reports from an early hustings event in Inverness suggest that Mr Fraser was taken to task by a sceptical audience. But Mr Fraser said: “The concept of a new party is being accepted, and now is the time to detail how it is going to work.”