Uncomfortable truths some Tories don't want to hear

I wrote yesterday about a memo sent by David Mundell MP, the only Conservative member sitting for a Scottish constituency at Westminster, to Conservative leader David Cameron.

Now I read that [David] Cameron refuses calls for Mundell to go. Well of course he does! David Cameron, whatever one might think of him (and I generally think positive thoughts, just to be clear), he is not some kind of village simpleton. Does anyone other than a few completely out of touch Scottish Tories seriously think that Cameron is going to get rid of the only Conservative who has managed to be elected in a Scottish constituency to Westminster in 10 years? Frankly, if I believed in God I would ask Him to give me strength! Read the comments to the ConservativeHome entry to get a flavour of just how disfunctional the Scottish Tories have become; it is truly sad.

Was it wrong of Mr Mundell even to write the memo, if he believes Cameron needed to hear his views? Of course I may be completely wrong, and Mr Mundell too, about the view that the Scottish Conservatives need to change if they are to begin to stand a chance of gaining more votes in Scotland. But I don't think I am.

I completely agree that it is highly embarrassing that the memo was leaked to the Daily Record and this newspaper chose to publish their story the day before the conference was to begin in Perth. But what do you expect from a Glasgow-based Labour-supporting low-rent scandal-sheet? Who leaked the memo do you think? Do you think it was David Mundell or David Cameron who leaked it? I would be astonished if it was either of these two. ConservativeHome says it is trying to verify information it has received about the identity of the leaker and thinks that GBP5,000 or GBP10,000 may have been paid by the Daily Record for the story. I expect that when/if the source of the leak is identified the motive for doing so will be clear and not at all to the credit of certain 'reactionary' elements in the Scottish Conservatives.