A VETERAN Tory fundraiser has denounced his party as "complete plonkers" for being so hostile to independence, after he was dropped as a council candidate for not backing the Union.

Financier Peter de Vink, a stalwart of the Scottish Conservatives since the mid-1970s, had been selected to stand in Midlothian, but was "dismissed" after supporting an independent Scotland.

Writing for the Sunday Herald on heraldscotland.com, de Vink says "Draconian measures" were taken to silence him and "stamp out internal debate".

In digs at leader Ruth Davidson, who said the Scotland Bill should be a "line in the sand" for devolution, de Vink says the Tories are repeating the errors of the 1980s and 1990s, when they opposed a Scottish Parliament. He writes: "The negative arguments of the current leadership will cause more Scots to support independence rather than vote against it, while leaving the party condemned to history.

"Here's the party that stands for independence of views, freedom of speech, freedom of action, and yet we are so intolerant when it comes to this. They look complete plonkers. They look so inept. Ruth Davidson, she is so out of her depth."

De Vink, 71, tried to make his points in a debate on the Union at the Tory conference yesterday, but was not called to speak. After being blocked as a Tory candidate, he is standing as an Independent in the Midlothian East ward in May.

In 1988, de Vink was a co-founder of the Tory party's Scottish Business Group. Managing director of Edinburgh Financial & General Holdings, he said he had raised "huge sums" for the Tories but now "hated to think" how much.

Earlier this month he hosted a lunch for Alex Salmond at Edinburgh's New Club, after which "very senior" Tories made it plain he could no longer be a candidate.

"In the invitation to the lunch I said I had come to the conclusion that independence was a very attractive option for Scotland."

A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: "Peter de Vink's views are not representative's of the party's view of Scotland's place within the United Kingdom."

Read Peter de Vink's article here