Let's be honest:
it is not often this newspaper has a positive word for the Conservative Party.
On taxation, public spending, welfare, immigration, the environment and the EU, we believe the UK Government and David Cameron are on the wrong path.
However, just because a party can be wrong for most of the time, does not mean it is wrong all of the time.
The Scottish Tories will tomorrow stage their first US-style 'open primary', which will be used to pick a Westminster candidate for a Borders seat. Instead of the selection contest being restricted to party members, any voter on the local electoral roll will be eligible to take part.
In the closed world of political selections, where vested interests and powerful families wield disproportionate influence, this is welcome.The new system is also in stark contrast to the appalling situation presided over by Labour in Falkirk.
As we have reported extensively, the trade union Unite signed up more than 100 new members in a bid to influence the selection of a particular candidate in the constituency. Some of these members, it was alleged, did not know that they'd been recruited, a claim denied by Unite.
Of course, the primary system is not without its faults. Strict spending limits must be put in place to stop rich individuals from trying to buy the outcome.
However, the idea of involving more people in the political process is a good one. It is to be hoped that the Scottish Tories' bold initiative succeeds and is copied elsewhere.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
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