They’ve still not learned, according to “a leading Highlands Tory” no less. Sorry to quote such a large chunk of it, but he hits the nail pretty much on the head in my view.
Robbie Rowantree… also claimed his party was complacent on race relations, riven by homophobia and stuck in a time warp…
He said his own candidacy in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey was not helped by the Tories “wittering on about nonsense†during the April campaign…
Rowantree says the party’s attempt to win votes, led by leader David McLetchie and chairman Peter Duncan, made no impact on ordinary Scots: “They just don’t seem to be able to articulate the needs of a right-of-centre party that is aspirational for Scotland. Who are these strange old people talking about foreigners, gays and criminals?â€
…he believes the recent appointment as interim deputy chairman of Jackson Carlaw, who was caught cracking racist jokes during the election campaign, indicates that the Tories are unwilling to change.
“Everybody thinks the Tories are a shower of racist xenophobes anyway. All you do is reinforce the stereotypes by doing stupid things like that. The mind boggles.â€
He also said that instead of clamping down on immigration, an inclusive Tory party should welcome foreign workers with “open armsâ€.
Yep, I’d pretty much agree with that assesment, and add my own observation that the Tories these days seem to be populated with grey “stealth” politicians. Take a street poll and see how many non-party members can name anyone in the shadow cabinet, be even more surprised if anyone can name more than three, (I can’t actually think of one at the moment!)
Then there’s the policy issues – what do they stand for these days? It seems to me that they’re trying to define themselves by saying “whatever other people are in favour of, we’re against” – not a sensible stance for a party that’s trying to reach government.
“Are you thinking what we’re thinking?” … erm, I think the answer’s “Yes” if all I’m thinking is “HELP!”