Tory leadership hopefuls grilled on gay marriage and assisted dying at first hustings

Tory leadership hopefuls have been grilled on their conflicting views on social issues such as same-sex marriage and assisted dying during their first hustings event.

The final three candidates all pledged to bring change to the party at the Glynhill Hotel in Renfrew on Saturday but had strikingly different takes on how to grow its popularity with ordinary voters.

Meghan Gallacher admitted she is “on the fence” when it comes to assisted dying, acknowledging she is “supportive of it from the heart” but has concerns about whether legislation being brought through parliament will put vulnerable people at risk.

Serious concerns

Gallacher told the audience: “There are serious concerns, in my view, about the bill in its current form. We need to look at this in the round.

“I’m not in the position right now where I’d be able to say yes or no because yes, I would be supportive of it from the heart because of what happened to a family member.

“That is a personal situation that happened to me but I’m going to look at this pragmatically as well as a legislator.

“There has to be the right safeguards in place, the right mechanisms to make sure people can’t be subjected to falling down those safeguarding cracks.”

Scotland will become the first UK nation to provide terminally-ill people with assistance to end their lives if the new law is approved at Holyrood.

Rigorous scrutiny needed

Russell Findlay told The Sunday Post he is sympathetic to the arguments for those suffering unbearable pain at the end of life but is holding back on setting out his own position until the bill has been subject to “the most rigorous scrutiny possible”.

He confirmed he would allow a free vote on it – meaning the party would not pressure its MSPs to vote in any particular way if he becomes leader.

Their views are at odds with Murdo Fraser, who has been one of the strongest opponents of a change in the law at the Scottish Parliament.

He said previously that assisted dying would mean “a return back to the pre-Christian era and a darker time in the past when human life was not valued as it is today”.

Asked whether he would be comfortable having a leader with opposing views on assisted dying, Fraser said: “That’s fine. This is not a matter of party policy, it’s a matter of conscience.

“I’m entirely relaxed if a leader has a different view on it.”

MSP faces challenge on same-sex views

But the Perthshire MSP was again challenged on his public opposition to same-sex marriage and same-sex couples adopting children.

He previously spoke in support of Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes’s faith-based views on same-sex marriage, which became a contentious topic during the SNP leadership race last year.

Speaking at his official campaign launch in Perth on Thursday, Fraser confirmed his views have not changed in the decade since the gay marriage vote in Holyrood.

However, during a media huddle following the Conservative hustings on Saturday, he insisted these issues “are not fundamental to the changes we need to make to become more popular”.

Asked how he would respond to a member who said he could not vote for him because of his views, Fraser described his disappointment.

He said: “I’m genuinely sorry to hear that because what he’s basically saying is that somebody who holds mainstream Christian views in line with the teaching of the church for the last 2000 years shouldn’t be in public office.

“I think we should have a party where we have an acceptance of people with different views and from different backgrounds.

“To me that is the essence of a liberal democracy.”