Wrong choice could ruin Scottish Tories

It may be a well-worn phrase, but it is particularly apt for the current debate over the future of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party: act in haste, repent at leisure.

Murdo Fraser and his fellow abolitionists will undoubtedly claim they have been plotting the replacement of the party with a new centre-right movement for a long time, but their attempts to support their theory with hard facts betrays an astonishing lack of coherent thought and preparation.

In his hopelessly vague question-and-answer document, A New Party for Scotland, Murdo presumes a great deal and promises much more than he could possibly hope to deliver. Foremost among his presumptuous and somewhat naive assertions is that he does not propose to split the party.

How, precisely, could he hope to avoid that if those members who do not want to vote for his proposal decide they wish to remain Conservative and Unionists and have the right to vote for Conservative and Unionist candidates?

If they are cast adrift and decide to do just that, is Murdo seriously claiming he will not have caused the party to split?

As Conservatives and Unionists committed to stopping Alex Salmond breaking up the United Kingdom, it must appear truly bizarre to many that factions within our own ranks are plotting to break up the party.

Of course there is a novelty value to Murdo’s proposals that some might find superficially attractive. But novelties have a habit of wearing off.

If this proposal causes the party to fracture, it will set back the cause of Conservative politics for years and possibly for ever.

When the real enemy is Alex Salmond and his separatists, this is no time to be gambling with the future of our party. It is a time to stand together, regroup and regain our self-confidence under the kind of fresh and dynamic leadership that Ruth Davidson offers.

Craig Wood

Tweed Road

Coldstream

Unfortunately John Scott MSP (Letters, 30 September) uses fear to urge support of his preferred candidate Ruth Davidson for the Scottish Conservative leadership election (Letters, 30 September).

It would require a crystal ball to provide definitive answers to all the questions raised and attempting to do so risks missing the wood for the trees.

The position of Murdo Fraser MSP and his supporters is that Conservatives need to reach out and be heard by the many people who we know are sympathetic to our aims but cannot countenance the messenger.

We need to change the messenger in order to be able to play a full part in the debate about Scotland’s future. We recognise that the political landscape has changed over the past 14 years. A change of name and structure to an autonomous Scottish party is necessary to show that we are prepared to make painful and difficult changes.

Without this fundamental change we will continue to be dismissed as irrelevant by the electorate.

Supporting Mr Fraser is not political suicide but a vote for the rebirth of a stronger, better, Scottish centre-right party with fresh thinking and hopefully fresh faces. Above all, it is a positive vote for the future of the centre right in Scotland.

(Cllr) Jeremy Balfour

(Cllr) Joanna Mowat

(Cllr) Cameron Rose

(Cllr) Kate Mackenzie

(Cllr) Jason Rust

(Cllr) Alastair Paisley

Cllr Iain Whyte

City Chambers

Edinburgh

John Lamont’s criticism of Murdo Fraser’s document (Letters, 30 October) misses the point of Fraser’s bold proposals entirely.

Ruth Davidson and her campaign manager John Lamont would prefer to hold on to the current set up of the Scottish Conservative Party on the basis that we would still have the right to influence the party leadership in the rest of the UK, attend the party’s UK conference and hold elected office at Westminster.

Murdo Fraser would of course seek to retain such rights for a new centre-right party working in partnership with the UK Conservatives.

But it is clear to me and many senior members and financial backers of the party in Scotland that the prize of holding on to once-cherished privileges for the sake of it is utterly without value. Right now we have one Scottish MP capable of holding office in Westminster and the ranks of Scottish Conservatives capable of influencing any part of the Tories’ agenda south of the Border are thinning year on year.

It is not defeatism to admit this; merely an admission of reality and an acknowledgement that radical change can and must happen.

It is not enough for Ruth Davidson to promise a return to the halcyon days of old by offering a “new era of optimism”.

Her odd blend of nostalgia and optimism is paradoxical but not logical or potent. The fact is, Scotland is the only nation in western Europe without a strong centre-right political party capable of challenging at general elections, yet there are thousands of voters who would naturally support a conservative party fit for purpose.

Conservatives in Scotland need and deserve much better than just more of the same with a fresh new face. Their leader needs a vision, combined with the experience to deliver it and the confidence of senior members of his party.

It is clear to me that Murdo Fraser is the only leadership candidate capable of marrying all three of those qualities and that’s why he is the only one with a chance of turning the tide for conservatism in Scotland.

STRUAN STEVENSON MEP

Conservative Euro MP for Scotland

The European Parliament

Strasbourg