David Mundell must resign

On the eve of the Perth Scottish Party Conference a leaked memo that appears on page one of the Daily Record threatens to do terrible damage to the Scottish Party's chances in the Holyrood elections.  The memo - from last June - written by Shadow Scottish Secretary David Mundell includes the following observations:

• There is a "simple lack of thinkers" on the Conservative benches at Holyrood, they don't have the capacity to formulate their own policy independently.
• Annabel Goldie made a reasonable start but has been criticised for "lack of activity and strategic thought", she has "sensitivities" about how she was presented alongside Cameron.
• The next Holyrood manifesto will recycle existing policy positions and that the Scottish party "don't get" the new moderation of the Westminster party.
• The need to replace Scottish Chairman Peter Duncan as an "immediate priority."

David Mundell should resign in order to try and limit the damage that this ill-advised and leaked memo threatens to cause.  If he does not resign it is vital that Mr Cameron sacks him.  It is the only way of killing this story and distancing the Tory leadership from Mr Mundell's criticisms of the Scottish party leadership.

Comments

[CannotSay]

This memo was seen by all the Scottish Conservative MSPs a few months ago and was common knowledge in the Party north of the border.

It is amazing it has taken this long to get out - the timing, on the eve of Conference, is highly suspect.

[Peter Hatchet]

No, he should not resign.

All these points are true. In his capacity as Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland he is perfectly entitled to express his concerns (internally) on the state of the party North of the border.

The fact it has been leaked is not his fault.

I am constantly exasparated by the sheer inepitude and incompetence of Scottish Tories. All these observations are true.

Any resignation would discredit Mundell and his reputation and possibly put his seat at risk at the next election.

[Scottish Tory]

So then, what exactly did Mundell do when he was an MSP that would set him apart from a 'clueless no hoper' label?
What we need right now is LOYALTY not infighting!!

[Boy Blue]

Mundell is an imbecile. If you write memos like these you should make sure that no-one sees them. To allow them to fall in to Press hands is a capital offence.

Peter Hatchett, what tripe you write. 'The fact that it has been leaked is not his fault'. Whose is it then? David Cameron's?

The fact is that Mundell was over-promoted in the first palce. He will be no loss to the Shadow cabinet when Cameron sacks him. If he is lucky, he may avoid deselection in his constituency.

I doubt that the Scottish Tory MSPs, candidates and activists will be quick to forgive him for this appalling act.

[Mark Clarke]

He should not resign. Party leaders get out of touch when people do not give them honest advice. If people stop telling David Cameron their concerns for fear it will get leaked we will end up with a leader without a feel for the Party or the country.

This is also the second time that a private memo to Cameron has leaked (the other being Desmond Swayne). I would suggest that it is not clear therefore whether the leak came from Mundell's office or from Cameron's office.

I should stress have no real knowledge of whether the actual claims regarding the Scottish Party are true or not.

[rasher]

Much as I despise Mundell, he was after all, just as bad if not worse than those he slates, I cant help but feel that what he says is true. The lacklustre msp's and the appalling behaviour and ineptitude of SCCO means that someone from south of the border needs to come up here and sort the mess out for us. The situation is considerably worse than most people would believe.

[Bring back Monteith]

Goldie's credibility as Leader has been undermined and is a lame duck leader. Brian Monteith MSP lost the Whip for much less than that. Mundell should be sacked and lose the Whip at Westminster too. For fresh thinking and a real campaign, bring back Monteith.

[Peter Hatchet]

Boy blue:

Just because you disagree with my point of view, there is no need to be rude. My point is not "tripe", it is perfectly sensible one.

Are you seriously suggesting he leaked his own memo? Why on earth would he do that?

And how else was he to communicate his concerns to the Party leadership? By word-of-mouth? Sometimes memos are the only way of recording, officially, concerns you have.

These are real and genuine concerns about the Scottish Tory Party. He is well qualified to raise them, as his excellent result at the last election demonstrates. His political skill and talents yielded success where others have failed.

This memo is months old before the current campaign started and was obviously to help give the Scottish Conservatives a kick up the backside and sort themselves out.

Someone has deliberately leaked this now to damage him. He should not resign.

[Annabel Herriott]

The obvious conclusion here, is that one should not email anything at all that you dont want leaked! Everyone like DC should havea safe mail box/address then use good old snail mail. It is childs play to hit the forward button, copy, print out and distribute etc. A person up to no good would have to steal the document in the first place, then find a photocopier, then replace said document. Much more complicated you must agree. One might even have to bribe the postman, then that act would surely "get out" before any damage to the party was done.

[Valedictoryan]

Boy Blue is bang on. Having concerns is fine, but it's just plain stupid to unnecessarily to them into writing.

Politicians should assume that their enemies will pass the press anything damaging. If they don’t want it getting to the press a) don’t do it and b) don’t write it down.

As my great-aunt told me: if you can’t be good, be careful.

[HF]

Why did he need to put it on paper?

The only useful audience for such a Note are Francis and DC. Anyone else is an unnecessary risk. If those are the only people he wrote to and it leaked from someone they passed it to then he is not at fault other than maybe he should have censored what he put on paper and instead said verbally the destructive points.

But, since the Note's release has wrecked any chance of co-operation between himself and the present leadership of the Scottish party he has to go.

What he has said looks (from faraway) as largely true. But we are too close to May to change anything.

[rasher]

Peter, I believe he has been damaged goods for some time. He has a very poor reputation here and is known as being nothing more than a complete Cameron sycophant. And yet I'm still obliged to agree with his views on the group if nothing else!

[Highlander]

As an activist I have been working ****** hard in the constituencies and with some ******* good candidates too. If people at the top keep acting so badly and unacceptably - both through criticisms, infighting and leakings - all this work will be meaningless and the chance of getting people to continue with equivilent efforts in the lead up to the general election and beyond will be nigh on impossible.

[William Norton]

Presumably, with Mundell gone (on the basis he's damaged goods), we bring back James Gray as Shadow Scottish Secretary?

[Matt Wright]

I thought most switched on people realised years ago that you don't send e-mails on issues ike this but discuss them one to one in private.

Matt

[Max]

A ludicrously over the top response from ConservativeHome. Perhaps they don’t realise that outwith the Tory-hating Daily Record this has had no media coverage in Scotland at all.

Still by calling on him to resign you’ll have done your bit to whip up this story. On the eve of conference too.

Cheers Tim.

[Andrew Woodman]

I think sacking him be harsh in the extreme. Has he actually said anything which doesn't have a ring of truth about it? You could question putting pen to paper, but all he's done is give an opinion on the state of the party in Scotland which opinion polls seem to comfirm.

[Peter Hatchet]

Andrew, Max and Mark Clarke are right.

Granted, caution is needed when sending memos, particularly by email, but - as Mark says - our party needs to communicate. To sack him for this is incredibly harsh.

If we all had to resign for something we'd been involved in that had caused some embarassment somewhere down the line, 99% of us would be out of a job.

Our opponents are the ones always demanding we resign for this and that. We shouldn't play into their hands.

[Boy Blue]

Peter Hatchett,

You are simply trying to deflect blame from Mundell. This was a (presumably) confidential memo, which would patently cause serious trouble in the wrong hands. Even if there is an argument for consigning it to paper, it is the responsibility of the author to ensure it stays confidential.

So who leaked it? David Cameron? Or someone Mundell foolishly gave a copy to? If the latter, then he has to take the rap.

Politcis and senior office in it are a harsh world. If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.

As for Mundell's 'political skills and talents'...... You're having a laugh, surely? he was a lightweight MSP and is the lightestweight Shadow Cabinet member.

[TheBroons]

He should be promoted not sacked. thank god
someone is telling Cameron the truth about the Scottish party. Its also obvious who leaked this. Has Mundell recently dispenced with the services of any staffers? His press officer perhaps?

By the way the Record makes the Mirror look like a Tory paper - they'll print any anti tory rubbish.

[Chevalier de la Foi]

Agree with Max. ConHome's call for Mundell's resignation is hysterical. Another nail in the coffin of the credibility of this site.

[rasher]

"Has Mundell recently dispenced with the services of any staffers? His press officer perhaps? "

Nice to see the finger pointing has started already!

[kingbongo]

I know nothing of Scottish tory politics but I do know the party in Wales is on the up and doing very well - there is clearly something very wrong with the organisation and leadership of the party in Scotland - sounds like Mundell was just pointing that out - painful but surely the first step in getting things right for the future.

[Justin Hinchcliffe]

Sacking him does sound harsh and, politically, was very silly of you, Ed, to give oxygen to this story at this particular moment in time. The best hope for the Scottish Conservatives to recapture lost credibility would be for them to say that they will support the SNP's plan for a referendum on Scotland being in the Union and allow a free vote for Conservatives.

All that said, I don't think Cameron will be losing much sleep tonight...

[Peter Hatchet]

I see Iain Dale has also condemned this article as; "Utter rubbish, and a very unhelpful suggestion" - quite so.

Boy Blue, I am not "deflecting blame" - I do not blame him at all. He also achieved a 8% swing in 2005 and a 11% increase in his share of vote - he clearly is a talented individual. This is a very petty offence to destroy a mans career - and I question if it was his fault at all. The memo was written in June, for heavens sake.

Some people on this site think it's a crime *period* to be a firm supporter of Cameron and use every available opportunity to undermine or attack him.

This is not helped at times by the editoral line which, whilst I have huge respect for Tim and his team, is not as neutral as it should be.

[Max]

Perhaps it should also be bourn in mind that David Mundell has done more than most to help the party North of the Border. The South of Scotland is the only part of the country where we have made real progress since 1997.

In 2003 he increased his vote by around 10% in Dumfries. Better than any other Tory candidate. He then went on to win DCT and has helped rebuild our local government base in Dumfries and Galloway as well.

Clearly – according to ConHome – this is not the type of person we want on the front bench of the Tory party.

To witness ConHome – acting in league with a Mirror-group Tory-hating newspaper – is quite frankly sickening.

[Scotty]

"To allow them to fall in to Press hands is a capital offence."

So this has been leaked to the Daily Record and gets front-page treatment in the run up to the May elections?

If anyone has been paying real attention to what is going on in the Scottish elections and the Conservative party here over the last few years, they might join up a few dots and get the right answers!!
Firstly the Daily Record is the Scottish equivalent of the Daily Mirror Labour mouth piece.
Labour are in a mess and could be facing a real drubbing in the upcoming elections from all sides. Expect the party in 2nd place in Labour area's to improve their position.
The campaign is getting very negative and nasty already and is not for the faint hearted.

Now I contend that the unpopularity of the Labour/Libdem administration at Holyrood will benefit the SNP greatly, but I also think that the conservatives will improve their position if we pull together and concentrate our guns on the opposition.

There has been a real effort to undermine Annabel Goldie as the leader from within the party, and I don't think that it was an accident of timing that David Cameron and his shadow cabinet almost had their trip to Scotland undermined by criticism of the Holyrood team from a prospective candidate.
I notice that this email was sent 11 months ago and I would say that some of the criticisms in it have been acted upon, it is then odd that it should now be leaked to the Record at this time.
Sadly while South of the Border and in Wales we seem to have got our act together, up here in Scotland we are still too fond of "p*ssing inside the tent" while factions vie for control of the agenda even at the expense of the May election results.
I agree with Peter Hatchet's comments regarding David Mundell @ 09:53
I would have been concerned if the points highlighted by Mundell had been ignored but I think that they have been acted upon and remain sceptical about the timing of this leak.
Remember a few weeks ago when Newsnight failed to lead on the CforH story, instead they chose to go on a story which was drawn to their attention months after the event!!!

[Tam Large]

This was a memo, not a press release... If Mr Mundell thought they were clueless surely he ought to say so in a private communication, instead of the old politician-hush-it-up technique. Now he is being attacked because he told the truth and tried to do something about it. Attacking him is just more of the control-freakery which is infecting the Conservative Party. The guilty party in this episode is whoever leaked it - no doubt maliciously. Perhaps Mr Mundell is right and they are clueless...

[rasher]

Max, being a hard working local MP is one thing, but being fit for high political office is another. I would suggest that Mundell is the former, but not the latter.

Isnt it strange that when one MSP e-mails a privately held view to a newspaper editor, he is then castigated and thrown out of the tory group in Holyrood (Brian Monteith), yet when Mundell has his privately held views leaked no-one bats an eyelid.

[Justin Hinchcliffe]

Crikey! I agree with Tam large! It looks like all this is backfiring on you, Mr. Ed.

[Ted]

Agree with Max and similar posters.

No he shouldn't resign - that wouldn't have any impact beyond stoking up more "Scots Tory splits" headlines. It wouldn't change his opinions nor the veracity or otherwise of them. Best defence in these situations is no comment, no reaction.

Concerned that there may be a number of other memo's to DC from his shadow cabinet & advisors that were obtained last year and are being dolled out by Labour to friendly jounalists as opportunity arises.

[northtory]

The calls for Mundell to resign are, as has been repeatedly stated, nothing more than hysterical nonsense.

However, Max's comments that Mundell has "done more than most to help the party North of the border" are similarly ridiculous. Mundell has built himself a powerbase in Scotland, largely thru his unique position as a conservative MP in Scotland, and has used this to support cronies and yes men, while putting barriers in the way of those who really want change and who want to see our party do well.

He was part of that MSP group for 6 years and was hardly one of its top performers so it's all pretty hypocritical. He also supported Mary Scanlon's efforts to get back into the group despite her being sacked from the health brief becuase of gaffes.

He's definitely a "do as i say not a i do man". A lot of what he says is right but it applies to him to.

[Jonathan M Scott]

At least someone has had the honesty to state what has been obvious for a long time!

[Surrey Boy]

David Mundell is one of the weakest of the new intake of Tory MPs. The party a big mistake in making his Shad Sec for Scotland. It was a token gesture because he is a Scot without considering his skills (or lack of them). Why don't we actually give this job to someone bright who is not currently on the front bench?

[Scotty]

"Still by calling on him to resign you’ll have done your bit to whip up this story. On the eve of conference too."
Max @ 10:18 has highlighted the reason why I think this was leaked now. Just remember the briefing that came from within the party which did so much damage to IDS before his last conference, it set the agenda for the media coverage
If I was not so angry about yet another well timed intervention to damage the election campaign I might find that ironic!

[Editor]

I stand by my call for David Mundell to go. As one Scottish MSP told me this morning - this memo will be used as election literature by opponents. It was very foolish to commit these thoughts to paper. If David Mundell goes now it will be much easier for the party leadership to distance itself from the sentiments of the letter. Otherwise this will be a story that runs and runs.

[Tartan Tory]

I agree with all the other posters who think that ConHome has gone completely OTT against Mundell. The crass editorialising and demands for resignation feel like a cynical Daily Express-style 'let's whip up outrage for its own sake' approach.

Mundell was certainly naive to put his thoughts to paper but some malicious creature has held back the memo to be released at the most sensitive time possible.

[thatcherite]

Iain "Giz a seat" Dale is supporting Mundell. I look forward to a spirited debate on 18 Tory Street tonight.

[rasher]

Good point Surrey Boy, but it could equally be argued that now we have the Scottish Parliament, we dont need a Secretary of State for Scotland any more. Now could be a good time to dispense with the role altogether and kill two birds with one stone. I back Mundell's view of the group, but equally feel he is completely out of his depth and nothing short of spoilt bully

[Henry]

At least the Scots HAVE Tories AND a Scottish Conservative Party.

What does that say about the Tories views of England? Heaven forbid any of them should even be allowed to call themselves English and not be hauled up before the race commission!!

[Jennifer Wells]

If Mundell stays in his job it will look like the London party backs the views of his memo

That could be fatal to our chances in May's elections.

[LordHawHaw]

Ed your hypocracy is breath taking. You publish articles attacking Cameron on a daily basis and even sold one of your "membership polls" to The Independent last year before the UK conference at the most damaging time possible. Labour activists use pieces from this site on leafets etc. to campaign against the Party yet you continue to provide them with material and then have the cheek to call for Mundell to resign. HAVE YOU NO SHAME!

[CCHQ Spy]

What Mundell wrote was largely right but so close to an election Annabel Goldie needs to be publicly backed by David Cameron and the best way of sending that message of support is for Mundell to resign for being so stupid to write such sensitive things down. WHAT AN IDIOT HE IS!

[Editor]

For the record, LordHawHaw, I did not sell my poll to The Independent. It was given to them free of charge.

If you saw yesterday's Guardian Comment is Free you will know that I'm not relentlessly anti-Cameron.

[thatcherite]

Hang Lord Haw Haw! Traitor!

[Mike Clarke]

I agree with Tam Large too, which must mean that I agree with (shock! horror!) Justin Hinchcliffe. I think I'll go and have a lie down!

[thatcherite]

Cheryl Gillan seems to be doing a good job in Wales. Give her the Scottish job too!

Other alternatives are Scottish MPs who have English seats - Liam Fox (in addition to his defence portfolio) and Eleanor Laing (who did the job before I think).

[Deputy Editor]

Looking at the IP addresses of the critical commenters above reveals that a number of them are using the same computer...

[Jennifer Wells]

The story has gone on to the BBC website:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6429525.stm

I predict it will grow throughout the day and not because this website drew attention to it.

People do read the Daily Record in Scotland you know!!

They had the memo as an exclusive and it was bound to be taken up by others.

[Justin Hinchcliffe]

Lie down, Mike, lie down. Put an abulance on standby!

[Scotty]

"As one Scottish MEP told me this morning - this memo will be used as election literature by opponents."
I think that was the intention coupled with derailing the conference before it began!

I note in your editorial that you highlight the timing of the leak and the damage it might do, you also lay out your views on how the leadership should handle this which if I may so would only do further damage by highlighting this to a wider audience.
You don't seem to have spent any time researching or commenting on whether these criticisms have been addressed which if they have might not only improve our performance but in the end strengthen the present leadership in Scotland and down South.
Tim, I note that you say a "Scottish MEP" but not a "Scottish Conservative MEP"!

[Editor]

It was an MSP, Scotty.

[LordHawHaw]

Ed you may not have sold the poll but the effect was to damage the Party before DC's first conference. You must have know the poll would be used in most damaging manner possible yet you persisted. From memory shortly after one of your diatribes against DC for advertising a job or something in the anti tory Guardian too. You gave The Independent the info Mundell presumably had an email stolen. My charge stands

[Jennifer Wells]

LordHawHaw seems to put loyalty to party before ideas... and what a ridiculous moniker!

[thatcherite]

Deputy Ed should note that partners do post under different names from the same computer.

[Scotty]

"Looking at the IP addresses of the critical commenters above reveals that a number of them are using the same computer..."
Deputy editor, are you going to elaborate a bit further or just leave every poster who has commented under suspicion in the hope that it undermines their genuine comments and arguments??!!
This stinks.

[Keir Gravil]

David Mundell must not resign at all. I met him a few weeks ago and he provided a much needed break from spin and "towing the party line." I found David to be very intelligent and truly switched on to what Scotland needs. What he says is right, from my opinion of the Scottish Conservatives they don't shout much - Annabel Goldie may be a decent and intelligent woman but against people like Salmond she rarely rises to the challenge and often forgoes being vocal at all. David Mundell should be Scottish leader in my opinion.
I take the examples of the recent debates on programmes like Question Time - Goldie was silent most of the time and made only limited interjections, this is not what the Scottish Conservatives need. Mundell would be far better placed. His comments, his individuality and his determination for his role is parallel to none in Scotland. About being the only Scottish MP he once said that it is "an honour which I do not want", David wanting more than just himself as a Scottish Tory MP - and it is people like him which will bring more Tory MP's to Scotland. However this will only happen if, and only if we truly look at how the Scottish Tories are going to meet the rise in popularity of parties like the SNP.

[Scotty]

Editor, I would be interested in knowing if they were a member of the Conseravative team in Holyrood?

[Max]

Jennifer – it wasn’t even mentioned on BBC Radio Scotland this morning – even in the newspaper review. That’s how big the story was. As much as I’m sure the Editor would like to think otherwise to justify his position it isn’t a very big story up here. It’s not exactly the talk of the office either.

A bit reminiscent of the vast media coverage that ConHome ‘hero’ Ted Brocklebank generated when he resigned his position.

I can’t help feeling that some commentators on here from South of the Border don’t have much of a grip on what is and isn’t big news up here.

I don’t seriously think that calling on David Mundell to resign is going to dampen things down in any case.

And yes people in Scotland do read the Record – generally people who hate the Conservative Party already.

[Peter Hatchet]

Deputy Ed - you can check mine, I can assure you - I am using the same computer.

Ed - I do find your position rather obstinate. I can understand you are unwilling to back down because this would clearly be humilitating for you, but you *have* gone too far.

"this memo will be used as election literature by opponents" - of course it will, that goes without saying. Any embarrassing leak or memo will. As will Sir Patricks deselection, North Wiltshire deselection battle, you name it.. Anything embarassing - it goes in their literature. He wrote it 9 months ago before the current campaign started and it wasn't him that leaked it. Ergo, it's not his fault.

"Otherwise this will be a story that runs and runs." No, it won't. We're the ones running it! Even the BBC don't have an article on it.

I do not wish to question your motives, but I cannot help but wonder if you'd be so hard on an MP who had been an affirmed supporter of IDS, if they had done something similar?

I think you are being very unfair.

[Umbrella Man]

Forcing Mundell out will also send a message to other frontbenchers not to write silly memos.

[Denis Cooper]

"Whilst it is possible to agree in principle that the party in Scotland can make its own policy on devolved matters, capacity (the simple lack of thinkers) is apparent."

I suspect that much the same could be said for all the other parties in Scotland, and that there's a kernel of truth in it for all political parties right across the UK.

The Scots may be in a worse position than the UK as a whole because the best (and the most ambitious) thinkers will tend to leave for London (or maybe even Brussels) leaving second- or even third-raters to run the shop back home. Very few Scots seem to have a good word to say about the "numpties" in Holyrood.

Some years ago there was an article in the FT suggesting that Scotland had too low a population to provide an adequate pool from which top class leaders could be drawn, but I'm sure that isn't true. 5 million is easily a big enough pool of talent - the population of England has been estimated as 1.1 million at the time of the Norman Conquest, and it rose to about 11 million by the end of the Napoleonic wars (the Black Death knocked it back in the 14th century, but it recovered) and yet it produced Shakespeare, Newton, Pitt, etc etc.

There are however huge problems with the interactions, overt and covert, between Edinburgh and London, and even more so Brussels - many Scots still don't realise that as far the EU is concerned the Scottish Parliament is just one of its Regional Assemblies, and its primary purpose is to act as a direct channel for EU legislation into the Region, by-passing London. Hence many of the apparently idiotic proposals from the Scottish Executive haven't actually originated in their brains, and much of their "thinking" role only relates to thinking how EU policies can best be packaged and presented to the Scots.

[Andrew Ian Dodge]

Surely finding the leak might be the clever thing to do? If there is a leak that sends stuff to anti-Tory papers then they might do it again.

[alant]

My advice is to cool it. The suggestion that David M be sacked is daft and unhelpful.

As Michael Howard remarked, when Robert Jackson defected to Labour: "These things happen in politics".

I happen to be an active member in the north of Scotland and have met David Mundell. He seemed to me to have a pretty realistic understanding of the situation of the Tory Party in Scotland.

What some of the posters from south of the border need to remember that the party in Holyrood is only the second party of opposition. It is therefore sometimes difficult to gain the coverage we would like.

An answer is to focus on the unglamorous stuff like building up the membership and campaigning actively locally. This is a pre-condition of electoral success (and helps explain David Mundell's own presence at Westminster). In my constituency we now have an excellent team of local govt candidates led by a very hardworking Holyrood candidate. We also have recruited some 250 new members in the last few months. We have more members than some supposedly safe seats in England. Eventually, I trust, this will bring results.

So do please all lighten up!

[simon]

Well, Mundell has actually gone UP in my estimation because he's actually spot-on. It doesn't take a genius to work out that the Scots Conservatives are hopeless- it's bleedin' obvious watching them at the 'comedy of errors' (scots parly). There's NO strategy, and NO real leadership. As much respect i have for Annabel Goldie she is just not 'leadership' material for the Scots Tories. The other problem is none of the other MSP's are leadership material either. A complete rebrand and policy over-haul is required. A complete break from the UK Party is required here too. Unless we have a leadership candidate who expresses these views - we're doomed. BTW: i have been informed by the Scots Party that i did not recieve a MSP's ranking vote because my membership was up for renewal! Considering i had bumf from the UK party during that period ( remewal notice 1 day, cheque in post to party day after) it seems a bit of a lame excuse. Couldn't have had anything to do with the fact that sitting MSP's were under attack from other grassroots members seeking their jobs?!

[DrFoxNews]

Forcing Mundell out will also send a message to other frontbenchers not to write silly memos. - Umbrella Man

Yes, let's also hope it stops them conducting damaging briefing and leaking against the party leadership, whether at devolved or national level.

Other alternatives are Scottish MPs who have English seats - Liam Fox (in addition to his defence portfolio)... - 'thatcherite' (sic)

Don't you know that the Doctor is earmarked for bigger and better things?

A man of his formidable talents would be wasted at a political backwater like the Scottish Office!

No, his unwavering loyalty to David Cameron and the 'change to win' agenda deserves a much greater reward than that!

Promote the Doctor to Shadow Home Secretary and make that no-mark David Davis Shadow Scottish Secretary instead - I'm sure a tenuous Scottish connection could be fabricated from somewhere in his background...

:-)

[Luis]

Calm down dears, its only a memo.

The majority of us seem to agree that the memo makes some valid points.

Unfortunate it has now appeared in this Scottish rag.

The allegations of us all "writing from the same IP address" leave a slightly nasty taste.

This is my first comment on the website for many months.

I am a very occassional comment maker but felt sufficiently moved on this issue.

David Mundell should NOT resign.

[Umbrella Man]

It is not only a memo:- it is very bad judgment on the part of a shadow cabinet minister who should know better. How can Goldie and the other Scottish Tories now work with this man? He must go and go quickly.

[Peter Harrison]

It isn't often I'm moved to comment, but I am here. The suggestion that Mundell should resign or be sacked is ridiculous. The leader of any party needs people to tell him the truth (or at least, what they perceive to be the truth). If they don't, he will lose touch. By sacking Mundell, it would send the message that the leadership don't want to hear anything uncomfortable.

If Mundell had sent the memo direct to the Scottish Record, that would be a resigning/sacking matter. However, he did not.

I'm sorry, Mr Editor. There is a lot about which we agree, but I cannot agree with you on this. Front benchers MUST be able to express uncomfortable truths to the leader. That will include saying things which could be used as ammunition by our opponents. Sometimes these things need saying. Occasionally these views will be leaked by someone with an axe to grind. That happens regardless of whether the views are written or spoken. That's politics. Sacking someone every time this happens would show weak leadership, a leadership that wanted to live in an ivory tower isolated from the real world and a party that was blown around by the latest headline.

[Luis]

Likewise, Peter Harrison, I am probably one of the "silent majority" who agree with much that comes from Conservative Home.

This is a rare issue of disagreement and conversely a rare cause of comment.

[Gospel of Enoch]

All concerned should be made to (re)watch the "Yes Minister" training videos - particularly the section "The bed of nails" on leaks...

[Calum]

I can't think of anything that could be more unhelpful at the moment than Mundell resigning over this. Given that the rabidly anti-tory record has obviously waited to publish at the most damaging time, why is conhome doing its best to help them in their agenda to damage conservative interests in scotland? I have been a visitor to this site for a while now but have never posted a comment before, but am so dissapointed that conhome is joining forces with the bigoted and hate-filled daily record to put the boot in to the already struggling scots tories at such an important time for us. seriously unimpressed.

[Shaun Bennett]

I agree that David Mundell has been extremely foolish to put these concerns (justified though they are) into writing so that our opponents in Scotland can use it in the election period.
However, If Mundell resigns or is sacked it will escalate the story even further surely. If Cameron really needs to sack him, he should wait until after the May elections to do it. Yes, damage has already been done, and we can probably expect a bad result in Scotland as a result. But we need to kill the story by ignoring it, not escalate it.
Also, if Mundell (the only Scottish Tory MP at Westminster) is sacked, who is to replace him as Scottish Secretary? It would be even more embarrassing to abolish the post or appoint a Tory from Surrey to fill the vacancy. There is just no alternative!

[thatcherite]

It is clear that David Cameron did not agree with David Mundell's comments as he did not act on them. (The memo was written was last June). Peter Duncan remain Chairman of the Party in Scotland.

Since David Mundell had no confidence in his colleagues at Holyrood and Scottish Central Office, he should have resigned before the end of the last of year. Instead, he has put personal ambition before principle and the interests of the Party.

[Max]

"The allegations of us all "writing from the same IP address" leave a slightly nasty taste"

I agree Luis. I'd be happy for the Deputy Editor to name and shame people rather than tarring every critical commentator with the same brush.

As this story continues to grow and grow I note that the BBC no longer has it featured prominently on the BBC Scotland page.

[thatcherite]

There are two former Secretaries of State for Scotland in Parliament - Lord Forsyth (now chairman of the Party's Tax Commission) and Sir Malcolm Rifkind. Both have extensive experience and would be better than Mundell.

[Boy Blue]

Editor, You're totally right. Mundell MUST go. This is a deplorable act of treachery. If Monteith was drummed out of the party then the same rules must apply to Mundell.

Frankly, its not like he'll be missed.

[David Roberts]

Politically stupid for Con Homeof(UKIP/ Christian fundementalists and other asorted fringe wierdos) to call for resignation. Could it be the editor does not approve of DM?

The leak is probably 6 months old and was provided 'by someone close to Mundell'.

His analysis of MSPs is accurate and almost too kind.

Goldie and Fraser continue to do a poor job and are as bad as each other. The political system and the nature of the Parliament encourages poor quality members (as all the parties prove)

Mundell is one of the problems in Scotland not a solution - during his time in the SParl he proudly acted as an independent rarely if ever supporting the agreed line of the leadership. He, to my knowlage, has never had an origional idea or thought. He is a lackluster MP and is unlikely to figure in a future DC cabinet as he is mistrusted by DC and his team.

No he should not be sacked at the moment he should just continue to be ignored

Grumpy

[Shaun Bennett]

I'm not sure that Sir Malcolm Rifkind or Lord Forsyth would be suitable replacements as the media would all jump up and down going on about how it is a step backwards for the Tory party-particularly with Lord Forsyth, who I believed was hated in Scotland.
However, if Mundell is sacked in the future, I think that perhaps the best option to replace him could well be someone from the Lords. It would have to be a fresh-ish face to show that the party is moving on and also somebody who is actually Scottish!

[TaxCutter]

Howard Flight got sacked for a lot less.

[Off Message]

Peter Harrison is spot on with his analysis. This rather sad little witch hunt (led, unfortunately, by our virtual landlord) is rightly making even non-posters post against it.

I think you need a week or two off politics Tim. Feverish politiccing all day, every day obviously turns the minds of the most balanced and decent people. This is a low point for ConHome. Go for a long walk.

[malcolm]

I don't know enough about Scottish politics to know whether the Editor is right or not but I would hope that no one would be sacked for telling the truth.I cannot believe that Mundell would have deliberately leaked this to a Labour loving Mirror Group rag like the Daily Record.
O/T What's happened to all the usual trolls that plague this site.Have they all been barred?

[PTC]

"It would be even more embarrassing to abolish the post or appoint a Tory from Surrey to fill the vacancy. There is just no alternative!"

If we can have a Scottish Shadow Minister for London why can't the Shadow Sec for Scotland be a Tory from Surrey?

[Tom Horrocks]

What is certainly true is that there is a desperate lack of quality in the Scottish Party but that it is too late to do much about things now. But it does make you wonder why they ditched David McLetchie and Brian Monteith.

Frankly who cares how this note was leaked or by whom... what really matters is that Mundell pointed out some self evident truths and, when the Tories come a resounding 4th in May's elections, there will have to be some very hard thinking about how we build up the Party in Scotland. Winning even a couple of extra seats north of the border at the next General Election is a minimum requirement for a Tory Party to be able to show it represents all of Britain. At the moment, that looks a pretty distant prospect.

As for Tim taking a long walk

[Ted]

Cameron's apparently sacked Mercer for his comments on racism in the army - saying it was squaddies playing the race card to get off discipline charges and using term black bas**rd in illustration of what was normal banter.
Don't think two sackings would help party image...

[thatcherite]

This story will be reproduced in our opponents' election literature. The party's Holyrood campaign has been severely undermined.

How can the party campaign positively when Annabel Goldie and Peter Duncan do not have the confidence of the Shadow Scottish Secretary?

Frankly David Cameron must take action now. He must back or sack Mundell. If he backs Mundell, Goldie and Duncan must go before the campaign starts. This is a big test Cameron's leadership abilities.

[Richard Weatherill]

I'll join Mike Clarke in the ambulance which Justin's kindly arranged.

My ignorance of Scottish politics is almost total, but I can't see what David Mundell is supposed to have done wrong. Since when should people face the sack for telling their boss the truth in a memo that was clearly intended to remain private?

Come on, Tim. Get a grip!

[Gospel of Enoch]

If no one should be sacked for telling the truth, why has Patrick Mercer just resigned from the front bench?

[scotty-the- footsoldier]

Hold on a minute all ye who castigate the Ed for running this story and calling for a resignation. This is supposed to be the unofficial voice of the grass roots of this party.
First let’s add a little perspective from a Scottish foot soldier’s point of view.
This story may not have made BBC radio this am but I can assure you that the BBC breakfast TV Scottish news ran it as the second lead. Further I have just watched Annabel Goldie on Scottish FMQ’s on BBC2 and despite her hammering little Joke McConnell on the big issue of the day – the rail strike, she was faced with McConnell holding a copy of the Record aloft and dismissing her as clueless in the words of the Shadow Scottish Secretary.
In case you critics of this site haven’t noticed we in Scotland have an election to fight in a little under eight weeks what we need like a hole in the head is this type of highly destructive headline undermining not just the Leader but virtually the entire Scottish Party. I for one am sick and tired of spending huge amounts of my free time, and all my spare cash working my butt off trying to put this party back on the map in Scotland only to be constantly kicked in the nuts by this kind of nonsense from people who should know better. You can be sure that Labour will try to maximise on our embarrassment in the forthcoming campaign. Can those of you who are complaining about the Conhome position tell me just how we deal with this on the stump?
I had the misfortune to see the Record first edition last night when getting petrol. By the time I got home 40 minutes later my phone was ringing off the hook form fellow activists furious at the headline and asking how could this story have been let loose. The most repeated comments were about David Mundell who, himself was one of the MSP’s he castigates until just 20 months ago and certainly didn’t set the heather on fire in Holyrood. To most it would seem he is seen as over promoted, only in the job as there is no other Scot, and that he was responsible for the disaster that was the Dunfermline by -election.
In deed some even suggested to me he would be booed off the platform should he appear at the conference tomorrow and Saturday.
There is only one way that we can recover from this and it is for David Mundell to the decent thing and resign. It high time that politicians started behaving like the honourable gentlemen they are supposed to be, and started taking responsibility for the actions of their staff (like leaking etc) And if he doesn’t do the decent thing then DC has no option, he has to back the Scottish Leadership and sack him, nothing less will right this.
It’s about time those in positions of responsibility in this party started having some respect for the poor bloody infantry of which I am one and indeed our candidates. Blair has been criticised for sending our troops into battle in Iraq with no body armour and rightly so. Is DC going to send his Scottish troops into the battle with Labour with a vote of confidence in all of us or will his silence and lack of action sound our death knoll. It’s not a wait and see how it plays out Mr Mundell, it’s a no brainer, pull the trigger now you wont feel a thing.

[Richard Weatherill]

Maybe, Gospel of Enoch, Mr Mercer shouldn't have been sacked either?

[Gareth]

It's obviously the day for it. How did Mercer think he'd get away with that?!

[Scotty]

I would just like to point out that "scotty-the-footsholdier" is another poster, although I must admit to remembering an earlier discussion on this site where I described myself as a footsoldier!
Now editor, will you be checking the IP address of this poster?

[rasher]

I have to say that was an excellent post by Scotty the Footsoldier and I know his sentiments will be shared by many of us up here.

[Justin Hinchcliffe]

"Politically stupid for Con Homeof(UKIP/ Christian fundamentalists and other assorted fringe weirdoes) to call for resignation. Could it be the editor does not approve of DM?" - David Roberts. This site won't be here for much longer - it had the potential to be a good discussion site which promoted ideas in a calm manner. Instead, it was hijacked by nutters (as you discribe). It is a complete liability for the Conservative Party across the UK.

[Justin Hinchcliffe]

Just called 500 ambulances...

[thatcherite]

Patrick Mercer is Shadow Minister for Homeland Security in the Home Office team. It appears that he was moved rather than sacked. If my memory is correct, he was moved by Michael Howard rather than David Cameron.

I agree with every word of Scotty the Footsoldier.

[malcolm]

My God Justin, I'll say this for you have amazing chutzpah/gall! This site has done a lot for our party as I'm sure David Cameron and Francis Maude would readily recognise.
Not all the posters on the site are loyal to the party but one who should be but frequently attacks other Conservatives personally and Conservative positions is you!
If you want to talk liabilities look in the mirror!

[Justin Hinchcliffe]

Don't recorginse the picture you paint, Malcolm.

[Alan Simpson]

How can DC sack Mundell? After all, DC asked Mundell to prepare the report.

[Mike A]

Whilst Cameron is writing P45s, can we get one for Dr Fox, please?