The only way for Tories to succeed is to defect to Reform

The problem for Russell Findlay is policies. For years, the Scottish Tories have been policy-lite, as they rode high on the "No to Indyref 2" wave. Complaining now about red tape and tax rises is hardly radical, or very credible, given the last few Conservative governments were responsible for record-breaking tax rises.

This of course highlights the issue of trust. The issue of immigration in Scotland may not be as urgent as in the rest of the UK, but it would be a mistake to think it has no validity here. Again, ballooning immigration figures under the Tories when they promised at every election to reduce numbers has destroyed the party's credibility for many voters, including Scottish ones.

Mr Findlay won't be able to develop the radical, pro-Scottish, pro-growth policies Scotland so desperately needs as long as his party remains shackled to the UK Conservatives. They in turn cannot match the challenges Reform presents on policy issues such as taxation, immigration and net zero.

For these reasons, Mr Findlay will have his work cut out, not only in winning back ex-Tory voters, but also in luring disaffected Labour and SNP voters, many of whom still see Findlay and his party as "Toxic Tories".

If Scottish Conservative MPs, MSPs and councillors want to convince Scottish voters that they are - to steal Labour's massively deceptive phrase - the "change" Scotland needs, they should consider joining their Aberdeenshire colleagues and defect to Reform.

Linda Holt, Pittenweem.

• BENJAMIN Disraeli famously stated: “Change is inevitable. Change is constant.” In Scottish politics, Reform UK embodies this truth, providing a vital alternative to the status quo of high taxes and disconnection from voters.

Scottish voters are turning to Reform UK because neither Labour nor the Conservatives offer a compelling vision for the future. Both parties have proven adept at raising taxes but ineffective in delivering meaningful reform.

The Scottish Conservative leader’s admission that Reform UK’s support is "too high for his liking" reflects a party out of touch with the frustrations of ordinary Scots. The time for a fresh approach is now, and Reform UK stands ready to meet the moment.

Alastair Majury, Dunblane.

• SO Russell Findlay is unhappy that Reform UK’s support is too high. The reason for it is that Reform offers some hope that we might have a government which actually does what the people want and isn’t as incompetent as the one we have at present.

Michael Watson, Rutherglen.

Read more letters

• Stephen Flynn had the right idea. All our MPs should double up
• The Holyrood system has now been exposed as rotten

No one wants an election

THE leader of the Lib Dems in Scotland claims that he would “love an election”, and that Scotland “needs an election” ("Independence red line is drawn for Lib Dems to support the SNP’S upcoming Scottish Budget", The Herald, November 25). Scotland’s governing party is in a minority, so if all the oppositions party leaders were to vote down the Budget, we would get one. However there is election non-fever in the air, because in spite of years of bad-mouthing the SNP by the (mostly unionist) commentariat, it is stubbornly still the best-supported of all the parties, and any potential unionist coalition would seriously damage the participants before the next election in 2026.

Mr Cole-Hamilton will be dependent on Labour, a party forced to roll out Lord George Foulkes to try to deflect the ire of the public (alongside Tories and Reform) for his government limo, showing desperate times are afoot.

GR Weir, Ochiltree.

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Image: PA)

Payment cut was by the SNP

RUTH Marr (Letters, November 25) errs in stating that the winter fuel payment was cut by the Labour Government from millions of pensioners across the UK. The winter fuel payment was cut off in Scotland by the Scottish (SNP) Government.

Perhaps Ms Marr is suffering from "discredited goddess syndrome’’, the goddess in question being Nicola Sturgeon who recommended that her replacement be Humza Yousaf; he who has registered himself as a company in order to pay less tax.

William Durward, Bearsden.

Nothing like Merkel

ALISON Rowat suggests that reviewers will hope that Nicola Sturgeon does not follow the example of Angela Merkel and produce a memoir of over 700 pages ("Sturgeon could learn a few things from Merkel when it comes to memoirs", The Herald, November 25). I think that they can rest easy as firstly, in literary terms, it is likely to be the equivalent of comparing War and Peace to the Oor Wullie annual and secondly, given the former First Minister’s inability to recall detail, I imagine it will be a short read.

Stewart Daniels, Cairneyhill.

What happened to MSP cut?

I FOUND Christopher Jones's letter (November 26) of interest. I am not sure I agree with “double jobbing” for MSPs and MPs but I wholeheartedly agree that we have far too many MSPs.

I recall this being raised when the Scottish Parliament was set up in 1999 and the response was that the apparent large number was required to deal with the initial wave of legislative matters that had to be amended for a devolved Scotland. However, it was also stated that, once this work was complete, the number of MSPs would reduce.

This seems to have been conveniently forgotten by all parties, perhaps because turkeys don’t vote for Christmas, but the unnecessary large number of MSPs perhaps explains the poor quality of debate at Holyrood and the impression that it acts as a great big county council.

Duncan Sooman, Milngavie.

The wrong option

THE incoming Labour administration declared in July that the “UK is broke and broken”.

A few short months later and if the opinion polls are to be believed, it now trails those it accused of economic mismanagement.

Christopher H Jones (Letters, November 26), proposes that we close Holyrood and keep Westminster.

Really?

Alan Carmichael, Glasgow.

Sarwar the U-turn king

I WAS never a fan of Maggie Thatcher. But perhaps her most famous quote, "You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning" is particularly resonant today.

We have a weak Scottish Labour Party leader who is prepared to U-turn at every opportunity.

Anas Sarwar is now asking his MSPs to vote for a reinstatement of the winter fuel payment to pensioners, only two months after telling them not to vote with the SNP to keep it in place.

If he succeeds he will claim the credit. He can then be crowned the U-turn king. But I've also never been a fan of the monarchy.

Andy Stenton, Glasgow.

Stay out of it, Musk senior

I AM amused but annoyed that one of the people supporting the petition for a new UK election is a South African living in the United States who has never been elected to any political office although he has spent a few million dollars influencing the recent US election ("Starmer rules out re-running general election as petition gathers signatures", heraldscotland, November 25).

I am also surprised that the British media, in this case LBC radio, has given voice to the critical views of his South African father who states that the present government has set back the UK by 400 years. Any evidence, Mr Musk?

Should we, the British public, be listening to the views of any nonentity who happens to have a famous son?

Sam Craig, Glasgow.

Taxing times

DAVID Bruce (Letters, November 26) asks: "Why doesn't Labour try to just make taxes simpler and fairer?" When I was studying economics, 60 years ago, we were taught that a simple tax system would not be fair, whereas a fair one would not be simple.

Kenneth Fraser, St Andrews.

Easing prison overcrowding

SURELY one way to ease the current level of overcrowding in prisons (“New plans for early prisoner release?”, The Herald, November 20, and Letters, November 22) would be to send fewer people into them. If there were more bail hostels and community sentencing options this would obviate some of the need for custody.

Cathy Baird, Dunipace.