Question: David Cameron has put more emphasis on Scotland than any of his recent predecessors. Do you think that's worthwhile given the party's performance north of the border?

Mundell: I think the point that David Cameron very clearly makes is that if there's a Conservative government and if he's the prime minister then it will be a government for the whole of the United Kingdom, and whatever our level of representation from Scotland at Westminster we will govern Scotland with respect. So it's not just about how we as a party fare in Scotland, it's an explicit recognition that Scotland is part of the United Kingdom and the Conservatives are now in the best position for a generation really to be the United Kingdom government.

Question: Do you think Tory prospects for next election are good in Scotland?

Mundell: I'm expecting us to have more seats than we have at the moment, I know that's a politician's answer, but we're looking to move forward because I believe that the vote in the Scottish Parliament elections in May was a vote for change. People wanted rid of the tired Labour-led executive and they wanted change from Labour.

Now on that occasion they saw the SNP as the largest other party in the Scottish Parliament as the vehicle for that change, but when it comes to the UK general election the only way to change the UK government is to vote Conservative and that is the message that we will be promulgating between now and the general election, whenever it comes.

Question: It sounds like you’re asking people to vote for the least worst option.

Mundell: People vote for a whole combination of reasons, a lot of people have not been voting Conservative in Scotland in recent years because they didn't think it was going to make a difference, There's no doubt that when people come to cast their vote not only do they weigh up the individual policies of the party, they think 'will casting my vote in a particular way make a difference' and that's an important part of our message in Scotland, yes voting Conservative will make a difference because it can lead to a UK Conservative government.

Question: Could you spell out the party's position on the 'West Lothian' or English-only votes question?

Mundell: Ken Clarke has a democracy task force which is about to report on the issue. I think the West Lothian question is really better described as the English question. Ken Clarke is going to report on how best we believe that English members can have the final say on matters which relate only to England.

I think its the wrong way round to say banning Scottish MPs from voting as it is sometimes characterised, it's actually about giving MPs from England the final say on matters which relate only to England which if they were in Scotland would be dealt with by the Scottish Parliament and indeed if in Wales increasingly by the Welsh assembly.

Question: You don't vote on English matters yourself?

Mundell: I don't vote on English legislation. I vote on opposition day debates because that's really expressing an opinion. In the Scottish Parliament you're able to express an opinion on reserved matters, but I don't vote on English legislation.

Question: When is Ken Clarke's report expected?

Mundell: It's expected early in the new year. There was a slight bit of slippage because of the general election that wasn't. There's been a number of submissions and what Ken will then come forward with is what will effectively be a discussion document.

Question: David Cameron recently gave an interview with the Telegraph in which he talked about the depth of his Unionism and the need to avoid English nationalism. Was this a repositioning?

Mundell: I think it's very clear that you can discuss these issues of the so-called West Lothian question, the Barnett formula, and still be a Unionist and a strong Unionist. I think that what Labour have sought to do is characterise any attempt to discuss these issues as undermining the Union, and I think the point David was making very clearly was tat you can be a Unionist but you can recognise that the Union has always evolved and there needs to be discussion of these serious issues.

Question: Is there a danger that the more the party talks about English votes the more it is seen in Scottish eyes as an English party?

Mundell: No I don't think that at all, all the polling shows that most people in Scotland accept that it's only fair that English MPs should have the final say on English matters. My constituents are not desperate that I should be voting on specifically English matters, in Scotland people see that as fair.

We're addressing the final part of the jigsaw, the devolved settlements looked at Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, but they didn't address England and it's quite clear to me that there isn't really a mood for regional government in England.

I don't think there is any reason to believe there is a wish for a separate English parliament, separate from Westminster with all the added politicians and bureaucracy that would bring, I think people would like to find some solution to this imbalance that could be accommodated within the Westminster parliament.

Question: What else are we going to see from the party on Scotland in 2008?

Mundell: I think we're looking to move forward with ensuring that the UK government and the Scottish government can work effectively together, because we had eight years where we had Labour in Edinburgh and Labour in London and everything was really done through Labour party networks, and they don't exist anymore for that purpose.

So we've got to see a maturing of the relationship between Edinburgh and London and we've got to look at ways of doing that which ensures that every issue isn't politicised. Very recently there's a rather disturbing trend with Alex Salmond and the SNP government in Edinburgh of trying to politicise every dispute with London, we saw that most vividly over foot and mouth.

If we're going to have this system of devolved government, if we're going to have administrations of different parties, we've got to see better working relationships, better mechanisms put in place to allow the different governments to work more effectively.

I regard that as our priority because when there's a Conservative government in Westminster we're committed to working with the Scottish Parliament, Scottish government, the Welsh assembly, the Welsh assembly government and indeed with Northern Ireland, that we have to sort out the proper mechanisms.

Question: Can you see a Cameron-led government in Westminster working with Alex Salmond in Edinburgh?

Mundell: I see no difficulty with that at all other than rejecting his constitutional position. But if Alex Salmond is the democratically elected first minister of Scotland we will work constructively with him.

What we won't do is give him any grounds for undermining the future of the Union and the United Kingdom, but on all matters devolved to the Scottish Parliament we will treat him and the Scottish Parliament with respect and work with them.