Party pooper

Expelled parliamentary candidate Philip Lardner accuses those running the Scottish Conservatives of ruining the party by being out of touch (Letters, 7 July), but he is long overdue looking in the mirror.

The moment you hear these types talk about stamping all over anything that doesn't harken back to a world that disappeared in 1950s (and invariably calling it "commonsense"), you know you're probably dealing with the same old, two-faced Monday Club types.

If there's one thing to be thankful for in the current Con-Lib Dem government alliance, it's that this time around it has left these characters and their dreams of running amok within the corridors of power out in the cold - no more Clause 28 or poll-tax debacles when there's real work to be done.

However, it is true that the Scottish Conservatives have been for too long a self-congratulatory strawberry-tea club. Scottish Tories need an overhaul, and purging the deadweight and double-dealers must be top priority.

MARK BOYLE

Linn Park Gardens

Johnstone, Renfrewshire