DAVID Cameron was last night accused of being out of touch with Scotland after he praised the controversial policies of Margaret Thatcher.

Despite their massive impact on Scottish industries and jobs, the Tory leader insisted they were the right ones to pursue.

MrCameron's critics claimed that, by extolling her agenda, he had scored a political own goal that would lose the Scottish Conservatives support in the run-up to the Holyrood elections next May.

But his supporters insisted no Tory was going to deny the Thatcher legacy and that "Mrs Thatcher is about the past, he is about the future".

The Conservative leader made his controversial remarks during an interview on the BBC's Friday Night with Jonathan Ross programme.

On Lady Thatcher and her record, he said: "She gave back to Britain a chance for having a growing economy and we've been successful ever since. But it meant very difficult decisions, especially for the North, Wales and Scotland; there were difficult times.

"But we in the Conservative Party believe they were the right decisions. The proof is that Labour haven't undone a lot of things they (the Thatcher government) did. Who would renationalise? It would be crazy."

Lady Thatcher's economic policies of the 1980s, including privatisation, led to a major restructuring of Britain's economy.

Much of Scotland's traditional heavy industries suffered as a consequence with the loss of thousands of jobs and blighted communities. Industrial unrest culminated in the miners' strike.

Politically, the Conservatives paid a heavy price north of the border and the introduction of the poll tax in Scotland contributed directly to the fall of the Conservative leader in 1990. Another consequence was ultimately the return of a Labour government and the introduction of devolution. In 1997, the Tories suffered an electoral wipeout in Scotland and today have just one MP, 17 MSPs and two MEPs.

Last night, George Foulkes, the Labour peer, said that, given Scotland was in many ways still dealing with the legacy of devastation that the Thatcher government wrought, Scottish voters would react to the Tory leader's comments with "amazement and disdain".

Grahame Smith, deputy general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, pointed out how the Scottish Conservatives under the leadership of Annabel Goldie had sought to create a new image and drop any links with the party's Thatcherite past, but they would be "embarrassed" by their Mr Cameron's comments.

Tommy Sheridan, the Scottish Socialist MSP who was a leading campaigner against the poll tax, said Lady Thatcher was a "political thug", who destroyed communities, industries, lives and hopes and who "deserves no accolade whatsoever". He added: "Cameron's comments cut very little ice in Scotland."

Alex Salmond, the SNP leader, added: "It's now obvious the anti-Scottish Tories have changed their leader but not their nature . . ."

But David Mundell, the Shadow Scottish Secretary, said it would be "ridiculous" for Mr Cameron to deny Mrs Thatcher's legacy and the tough decisions she took, but he stressed: "Mrs Thatcher is about the past, David Cameron is about the future."

Mr Mundell argued the Tories' opponents were dwelling on history because they "do not have anything to offer for the future".