The soul of the Tory party is under scrutiny – and perhaps its very future

Voters have had to suffer “no effective government” of this country for months on end with the antics of Boris Johnson and his attempts to keep his job taking centre stage over the last year.

With his reluctant exit from Downing Street and the consequent six weeks of the Liz Truss v Rishi Sunak soap opera of a leadership election, many like myself have looked on not only with disbelief and consternation at the choice of Truss but with a high degree of anger and helplessness that the way to the premiership of this country could be done in this way, that such a small cohort of people could decide for the rest of us who should be PM.

And was this was the end of this undemocratic shenanigans? Was it heck! The shortest premiership in British history was about to reach an end, coming after the disastrous destruction of the British economy achieved in the shortest time possible.

So, Liz Truss no more, Kwasi Kwarteng no more, Tory Party no more? A General Election in the offing? Well of course not. The answer, as we know, is another exclusively Tory leader/PM election. You simply could not make this up!

As this farce proceeds, we now hear that the arch-villain of this pantomime has returned to haunt us Scots. I have been searching for any form of logic that would entertain the return of Boris Johnson, a man who disgraced the office of prime minister. As this kind of situation has never happened before, it is unlikely that there is any precedent that would prevent his return.

READ MORE: Martin Geissler claims voters feel Scottish independence is like Brexit in BBC interview

Only the Tory faithful can prevent this from happening. The soul of the Tory Party is under scrutiny and perhaps its very future.

I decided a long time ago that Toryism is not a form of political thought, it is in fact a “state of mind”, one completely absorbed with utter self-interest, where personal wealth is the god, the exploitation of opportunity providing personal gain the norm and where elitism at every level provides selfish entitlement.

Your class decides acceptability and political power provides the oxygen to maintain a hold over the wealth and resources of our nation. They dislike anything that threatens their status quo. The last thing the Tories will be considering will be the wellbeing and poverty concerns of the rest of us. In fact, this party has no soul.

Dan Wood

Kirriemuir

SURELY the Conservative Party membership have forfeited the right to appoint another Prime Minister?

Having voted very recently for a candidate who displayed neither the character nor the policies for the job, and who did so from the earliest stages of her election campaign, it has demonstrated a complete inability to understand the qualities required to lead the country.

Indications are that if presented with the option, it will vote to return Boris Johnson – an individual who proved himself incapable of distinguishing fact from fiction and seems to believe that the rules don’t apply to him – to Number 10 is further proof that they have no interest in the good of the country.

Their only concern at this point appears to be that he was, once upon a time, a “winner” and hence may be able to pull their party out of the hole they have dug for it. The effect on the national reputation of returning a buffoon to the leadership does not seem to bother them.

Cameron Crawford

Rothesay

IT’S unbelievable that even one, far less 100 Tory MPs, should consider bringing back Boris Johnson as PM. Internationally, Britain must be seen as utterly ludicrous. The great should come out of GB and Scotland out of the UK!

The Scottish Government’s recent paper on independence, is in stark contrast to the chaos emanating from Westminster. The Holyrood paper sets out carefully and in detail the economic, currency and financial case for independence.

As Westminster implodes, an energy-rich Scotland, with its many advantages, must leave this dysfunctional Union if it is to become a fairer, greener, happier and successful country – a question of trusting Holyrood or Westminster. The people who live and work in and love Scotland should

have the courage and confidence to believe in Scotland and embrace the simple truth that Scotland’s future has to be in Scotland’s hands.

Grant Frazer

Newtonmore

LESLEY Riddoch rightly accepts both Professor Richard Murphy’s case for an immediate Scottish currency on Independence Day and the politics behind the Scottish Government’s advocacy of initial use of the rUK pound.

Lesley’s article, however, raised the wider issue of how to present the key Yes economic case for independence during a referendum campaign. There must be no room for doubt or division. Unfortunately, the SNP now has a dual role – the daily political needs of running devolved Holyrood and simultaneously promoting the all-embracing general case for independence.

The staggeringly vast oil reserves in Scottish waters, however controversial, remain a key legitimate factor in the economic and social-deprivation case. (The cash-strapped London government can’t wait to exploit them further!) but the SNP’s day-job involves a Green alliance at Holyrood. Whether on currency or on oil, a clear Yes campaign alliance will be needed in the referendum presentation.

Councillor Tom Johnston

Cumbernauld

THE chicanery and party-interest UK governments of recent years highlight a priority for an independent Scotland – a written constitution. Is there any reason why the SNP/Greens cannot start on this now?

Roddie Macpherson

Avoch