About this site

Introduction

This site has been specifically created for Scottish Tory supporters, and for political-interested members of the Scottish public.

With it, you can keep up to date with the latest news from the Scottish Tories and the UK press, you can read and send email, and you can search the web.

We see the site as being a cross between a Yahoo-style portal, and an 'official' party site. So, for example, you get the latest news from the party on the same page as impartial news headlines from other sources.

Web-based Email is one of the web's most popular features, being used by tens of millions of people every day. The success of Hotmail is testiment to the usefulness of such services. Therefore we've decided to offer our visitors free web-based email accounts. They can get their own yourname@ScottishTories.com account, for free. They also get free briefings from the Scottish Conservative Party.

There is more to life than politics, and more to the web than party political press releases. So we've brought together easy access to five different search engines, and the world's best web directory, to allow you to navigate the web like a pro.

We've put a great deal of thought making this site useful. Below you will find further information on the individual elements of this site.

The web directory we search is the world's biggest, and best Web Directory. Maintained by an army of over 25,000 volunteers, and used by many of the big-name portals, this is the place to start if you are looking for good quality sites.

WebInfoSearch aggregates the results of all the main search engines. If you are looking for comprehensive listings, or results of obscure search terms, this is the place to go. If you can't find something with WebInfoSearch, you probably can't find it, period.

Just type in a question, or a search term, and Jeeves will do his best to help you. Sometimes the results are shockly useful, sometimes not. Ask Jeeves is ideal for finding answers to popular questions. New internet users will also appreciate the fact that you state your query using plain English, rather than Boolean logic!

While most search engines search anything on the internet, or the contents of one single site, this search engine will soon take the 'Third Way'. At the moment it searches the main ScottishTories.org.uk site. In the near future we will get it to search the entire network of 25+ official Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party sites.

Campaign Information

The Scottish Tories run a number of campaigns aimed at raising awareness of the Labour Government's actions. Over the coming months we will be highlighting the different campaigns. Those who sign up to our free email service receive political briefings from the Scottish Conservative Party.

Latest News from the Scotttish Conservative Party

We get these headlines directly from the Scottish Tories Press Release database, therefore our headlines are always as up to date as those on the Scottish Tories own web site.

However, if you wish to access more than the latest five news items, you should visit the Scottish Tories official site at www.ScottishTories.org.uk There you can view literally hundreds of news releases, search news releases by Subject and Spokesman and find out general information about their campaigns.

If you're after the press releases of a particular Member of the Scottish Parliament, the best thing to do is visit that MSPs individual web site. You can find the addresses of all the Tory MSP sites at www.ToryMSPs.org.uk

Web Directory

We give you the world's largest web-directory. The directory is edited by an army of 25,000 volunteers, editing 300,000 categories, and listing over 2 million sites! It powers the web directory of five of the top ten sites on the internet. It is the secret behind the directories of Google, AltaVista, Netscape Netcenter, AOL, Lycos.com, AskJeeves.com and hundreds of other sites. We take the data directory from its source, in real-time, allowing us to have the most up-to-date version at all times.

yourname@ScottishTories.com Email

Any party activist or member can apply for a ScottishTories.com email address. So too can any member of the general public.

The email service is a web-based, meaning that you can check your email from any computer with a web-browser, that's connected to the Internet. So whether you're at home or work, in a cybercafe, at a public internet terminal, sitting in front of your Sony Playstation, or On Digital box, you can read and send your email.

Furthermore, as most computers come with web-browsers installed, you don't even need to install and configure any extra software.

Unlike many free email addresses, this one is independent of your ISP. Therefore, if you want to change ISP, e.g. from Demon to Freeserve, you can do so without having to change your email address. Being able to change ISP freely can save most people quite a lot of money which they would otherwise have spent on telecoms charges, and ISP subscriptions.

One of the main benefits of the service, is that you are sent briefings from the Scottish Conservative Party, helping to keep you up to date with political developments. As the General Election is widely expected to take place in the next 12 months, such a service is timely.

The service does not provide POP 3 access (the stuff used by Outlook Express, Eudora, and Demon Turnpike), however if you represent a Scottish Conservative Association, or are a PPC, we can probably arrange to set up a yourname@conservatives.org.uk POP account. See www.ImperialTories.com for details.

Latest UK Political News Headlines

These are updated every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day. The news headlines come from a wide range of sources. If you want more headlines than are listed here, we recommend you visit PoliticalNews.co.uk

A very small minority of users may not be able to view the news stories, as their proxy-server doesn't support immediate HTTP refreshes. The issue is known to affect those browsing from via the Scottish Parliament's proxy servers.

You need to have JavaScript enabled to view the headlines. Approximately 90 per cent of web users already have JavaScript enabled.

Non-official

The information provided on this site, may not necessarily represent the views of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. The UK news headlines are from a wide range of sources none of whom are affiliated to the Scottish Conservative Party. We do not censor or modify the headlines in any way.

Email Disclaimer

Email accounts of the form yourname@ScottishTories.com are created automatically, without prior approval by the Scottish Conservatives or Scottish IT, and without confirmation of registration details. Be aware that those using ScottishTories.com email addresses, may not necessary be members or officers of the Scottish Conservative Party. As with any free web-based email service, those using the service may not necessarily be whom they claim to be.

Please note that Conservative members of the Scottish Parliament have email addresses of the form firstname.surname.msp@scottish.parliament.uk and that their researchers have email addresses typically of the form firstname.surname@scottish.parliament.uk. Please note that email addresses of those working at Scottish Conservative HQ are of the form firstname.surname@scottishtories.org.uk .

Any user found to have impersonated another internet user or group, will have their account deleted.

Scottish IT operate a no-spam policy. If we believe an account has been used for spamming, or receiving replies to SPAM, we may well delete that account. If you believe you have received email that is offensive or unsolicited from a ScottishTories.com account, please forward details to us, to abuse@ScottishTories.com, and we will consider whether to delete the offending account, or berate the account holder. Scottish IT and its officers will be the arbiter as to whether an email constitutes SPAM.

Info

Up to now, you would have to go to one site to search the web, another for independent news, and yet another to get official news from your favourite political party. This site changes that for good.

Most politicos we know have 'made do' up to now, by going to BBC News Online for their news, Yahoo for the web directory, Google, Altavista or Metacrawler for their web directory, Hotmail/Yahoo for their email. We use some of the above in our site, and better alternatives where they are available.

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