The Queen today launched the baton relay ahead of next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.The baton, which will visit all 70 competing nations and territories, will contain the Queen's hand-written message to the Commonwealth.The 288-day relay started from Buckingham Palace before coming to Scotland tomorrow and then making its first international stop in India on October 11.The baton will arrive back next year, visiting various parts of the UK before a 40-day tour of Scotland in the run-up to the start of the Games in July.Scottish Conservative MSP Liz Smith, Shadow Minister for Sport and the Commonwealth Games, said:“The London Olympics proved a resounding success with Team Great Britain, including several distinguished Scots athletes, claiming the best medal haul at an Olympics for 104 years.“Today, as the Queen’s Baton Relay begins and excitement mounts about the forthcoming Glasgow Commonwealth Games there will be a wonderful opportunity for our sporting communities and the wider public, as well as providing a huge boost to the Scottish economy and tourism. “People turned out in their thousands to see the Olympic Torch and I am sure the same will be true for the Queen’s Baton as it visits the Commonwealth nationals for whom sport has a unifying presence and acts as a clear symbol of friendship and shared history.”