Tories may have writ for election forced. Major faces grassroots summons

election results and a way forward for the ailing party.

Grassroots Tories have rubbished the official party line that disunity

was to blame for the electoral defeat.

They have pointed to the constitutional issue as a key factor.

The move comes as news leaked of a confidential Cabinet paper which

completely rules out devolution for Scotland, despite the recent

humiliation of the Tories at the polls and their being braced to defend

the late Sir Nicholas Fairbairn's Perth seat.

The document, prepared by new Downing Street policy chief Norman

Blackwell, stresses that the Tory drive to win the next General Election

should concentrate on economic and family security. It is understood

copies were issued to Ministers at a Cabinet meeting last week.

The document will be a blow to Tory supporters of the need for a

change of heart on devolution.

Bailie John Young, one of Scotland's leading Tory councillors, said he

had heard of the Cabinet blueprint, which dismisses devolution out of

hand.

The document is also believed to oppose regional assemblies, take a

''tough line'' on Brussels, rule out a written constitution and bill of

rights, and demand no change to the House of Lords.

But Mr Young said: ''That is not exactly going to set the heather on

fire. If that is the basis of a manifesto I don't think it's going to

work.''

Mr Young said he would support the principle of devolution if it was

what the people wanted and had been properly worked out.

He said: ''If it appeared to give a better service to the people, the

short answer is yes I would support it but if it did not give that then

the answer would be no I would not.''

Bailie Young, councillor for Glasgow Newlands, who will head the

Conservatives on Glasgow new shadow local authority, said: ''We have

asked for a special conference where around 1000 party members could put

forward their feelings and proposals behind closed doors, possibly to

the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State, and others.

''It would be a short cut to hear a cross-section of views within the

party. We are in a very serious situation and the fact is we cannot

shrug that off.''

He dismissed the official excuse for the election defeat -- disunity

within the party -- and said policies were to blame.

VAT increases, huge boardroom pay rises, lack of job security and law

and order were among the real issues among the Scottish electorate.

A Scottish Conservative Party spokesman said last night he would not

be surprised if grass-roots Tories had demanded a meeting with John

Major.

The spokesman, who insisted that the party's policy on devolution

remained rock solid against any form of dilution of the Union, however

admitted there was considerable swathes of nominally Conservative

opinion in Scotland which had distanced itself from official party

policy in view of the hostility expressed at Tory ideas seen to be

coming from a London, metropolitan angle.

One of these dissenting voices, Mr Arthur Bell, chairman of the

radical Tory Reform Group, said: ''Ian Lang is making a serious mistake

in closing the door to devolution. That door should be kept wide open.''

Mr Bell added: ''There is much room for improvement both in our

constitution and in our society and anyone that thinks that the

electorate will be won over by negativism is wrong.''

The Scottish National Party, meanwhile, is prepared to break with

tradition and move a writ to call the Perth and Kinross by-election if

the Conservatives fail to face the electorate by Thursday, June 15.

Although convention states that the Government has until that date to

hold the election, it is not bound by any statutory requirement and

could leave the seat unrepresented indefinitely.

If it fails to serve the writ within the next four weeks, it could

face an unprecedented attempt by the SNP to force its hand.

With the Easter parliamentary recess delaying the announcement of the

by-election date still further, the opposition parties have accused the

Government of ''running scared''.

Under normal circumstances, the date of a by-election is set by the

party whose member formerly held the seat; it is usually held within

three to four months following that member's death or resignation. In

the case of Perth and Kinross, June 15 is the final Thursday in the

four-month span from Sir Nicholas's death on February 19.

However, The Herald has discovered that, according to a little-known

chapter in Parliamentary Terms and Proceedings: ''there is no time limit

during which a constituency may be unrepresented''.

In addition, the motion to call the by-election deals with a matter of

parliamentary privilege so may be moved by any member of the House of

Commons.