Open Letter to Scotland's First Minister
Asking him to incorporate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) into Scots law
In its first weeks, the Starmer government has introduced funding cuts that have precipitated Holyrood spending cuts and approved Ofgem plans to transfer renewable power from Scotland to England, with no benefit for Scots. On top of that, the Secretary of State for Scotland announced he will bypass the Scottish administration and use direct funding to further undermine the devolution settlement and there’s talk about ending universal services like free prescriptions and university tuition.
It’s clear that the UK government doesn’t respect Scottish sovereignty which lies with the people. But our own administration claims it’s powerless to act. So we the People must apply maximum pressure on Scotland’s elected representatives to push back against the colonial power by incorporating the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) into Scots law, which would give the Scottish People the right to hold referendums on devolved legislation, breathing life into the principle of Popular Sovereignty.
If you would like to also sign the letter to the First Minister requesting enactment of the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (ICCPR), please go to https://wecollect.scot/contact/ and copy and paste the following text in the message box: “I would like to add my signature to the RSS letter to the First Minister about ICCPR enactment”. Your signature registration will be confirmed by e-mail but your e-mail address will remain confidential.
Dear First Minister,
Your government has acknowledged that the Scottish People are sovereign and has confirmed that “popular sovereignty remains the best way of ensuring good government for current and future generations of people who live in Scotland.”[1]
Popular Sovereignty was codified in the Claim of Right 1689, a pre-condition of the 1707 Treaty of Union, which has been endorsed by the Scottish Parliament and the Westminster Parliament[2] both of whom recognise “the sovereign right of the Scottish people to determine the form of government best suited to their needs.”[3]
However, Popular Sovereignty requires that the People have direct political rights, such as the right to popular referendums, without which they are unable to exercise their sovereignty. These rights aren’t part of UK law despite the UK Government ratifying the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) back in 1976. ICCPR, Article 25, commits the UK to guaranteeing civil and political rights and Popular Sovereignty is the “other form of government best suited to our needs.”
The UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) has repeatedly criticised the UK government for failing to legislate political rights but recently praised the Scottish Government for enacting into Scots law another UN convention ratified by the UK, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the UK has also failed to incorporate into domestic law.
There are no legal reasons why the Scottish Government can’t do the same for ICCPR. Under the Scotland Act 1998, “observing and implementing international obligations, obligations under the Human Rights Convention and obligations under EU law” are not reserved.[4]
Incorporating political rights into Scots law, as recommended by the Scottish Human Rights Commission[5], would give the Scottish People the power to accept or refuse proposed devolved legislation via a Referendum. Without political rights, Popular Sovereignty is meaningless.
Furthermore, legislating for political rights would be a significant step towards a more consensual form of government than the Westminster model. It could give an immediate boost to the entire independence movement and offer a compelling argument in favour of the independence parties during the 2026 election.
Thank you for your consideration. Please feel free to contact us if we can provide any further information.
On behalf of Respect Scottish Sovereignty (RSS),
Henry Ferguson - wecollect.scot
Andy Anderson - AndersonPublications.co.uk
David Younger - ScotlandDecides.org
Leah Gunn Barrett - DearScotland.substack.com
Lewis Beattie
Brian Allan
Stephen McElroy
Peter A Bell
Edith Davidson
Bobbie Jeal
Fraser McAllister
Patricia M Macalpine
Chris Terrell
Ann Rayner
John Duncan
Derek Aitken
Robert Dixon
William Craig
Alan McMahon
Derek Kerr
Yvonne Stevenson-Robb
Andrew Haddow
Ian Grant
Robert Traquair
Alison Rollo
Maureen Pickering
Thomas Graham
Rhona Anderson
Norman Cunningham
Lori Moffat
Hugh McShane
Kira Gunn Barrett
Jerry Ozaniec
John Blair
Derek Bell-Jack
Peter Wilson
Elizabeth Milne
Michéle Doyle
Laura Alexander-Lawrie
Janice Alexander
Joyce Cox
Jackson Gunn Barrett
Michael Blaney
Andrew Cox
Lachie Munro
James Michael Queen
John Randall
Jacqueline McMillan
Kenneth Coutts
John Greer
Nancy Masson
Georgie Nicholson
Eric Low
John Oliver
Irene Byng
John Brown
Hazel Morrison
William Bryan
Lorna Ross
Diane Davidson
Gordon Millar Robertson
Sandra Edmondson
Paul Convery
William Laing
Bill Gorman
Hamish Scott
Gordon Currie
Denis Knowles
John Horne
Liston Thomson
Jim Daly
Lynn Stewart
Dermot Durkin
Morris MacLeod
Alastair Baird
Alan Short
Michael Ure
Karen Robertson
William Elrick
Roger Houston
Lesley Baird
Frances McKie
Julian Smith
Margaret Donald
Fay Smith
Alan Crowe
Jeff Craig
Terry Smith
Alfred J. Baird
Alice Hoy
Helen McGowan
Keith Calder
Jean Reynolds
Doreen A Milne
Hayley Calder
Ian Allan
Hugh Meikle
Kyle Calder
Stuart McHardy
Neil Macdonald
Connor Calder
John Grigg
Robert Morrison
Charles Maitland
Sheila Boettcher
Duncan MacFarlane
Andrew Gallacher
Margaret Noakes
Gordon Taggart
Jean Ferguson
Robellya McKay Livingstone
Geoff Bush
Jeff Kirk
Jim McCluskie
Michael Sayers
Iain Bruce
June Deans
Kate Fraczek
Richard Thomas Laird
Wilma Veitch
David Moore
Eileen Randall
Maureen Finn
James Marshall
Heather Wilson
Brian McCabe
John Rentoul
Nick Masson
Warren Jamison
Ron Strathdee
Pauline Murray
Susana Allardyce
Brian Quinn
Kenny Lochrie
Mark Carr
David Johnstone
Neil Murray
Ronnie Black
Valerie Rettie
Denise Borland
Elaine McEwan
Francis Mair
Pats Nielsen
Doris Edwards
John Kirk
Brian Scott
Andrew Milne
Sandra Gibbs
Catherine Gunn
William Craig
Frank Armstrong
Dr P R Ashby
Mary Edwardson
Iain McNaughton
Sue Harley
Carole Watt-Kiehl
Julia Laurie
Roderick Adamson
Patricia Scully
Brogan J Lynch
Gavin C Barrie
Fiona Middler
Jim Cornwall
Donal Hurley
Patrick McCarthy
Iain McGill
Jacqueline Oudney
Elisa McCarthy
Sheila Durie
Gordon Gaffney
Patricia Dickson
Eleanor Reilly
Mike Slessor
Jadzia Kruklinski
Leslie Johnstone
David Lester
Barbara Stevenson McBeth
Ian McAlpine
Dorothy Anne Devine
John Hutchison
Chic Kirk
Robin Thomson
William Duguid
Fiona Tavendale
John Sharp
Carole Inglis
William Mutter
Malcolm Campbell
Robert Lowe
Paul Gourlay
Doreen Anderson
Phil Riddel
Kevin Bletsoe
Margaret Goldthorp
David Greenlees
Calum MacLeod
Veronica Fairley
Marie Wistuba
J Carson
Mary MacCallum Sullivan
Stephen Lynas
Matty Bean
Neil Mair MacCallum
Andrew Barrett
Peter Jeal
Jim Davidson
Michael Brown
Julie Brown
Patricia Farrington
Valerie Gadsby
Anne-Marie Aitken
Margaret McPhee
Alex Batchelor
Ronald MacQueen
James McArthur
Val Grant
Keith Robertson
David Mclean
Fiona McOwan
Andrew Pearson
Fiona Mclean
Jim McGuinness
Archie Rutherford
William Whyte
Lesley McGuinness
George Parker
David Hood
Lynn Richardson
Dianeí Gardiner
Geoff Caldwell
Calum Anderson
J C
David Heriot
John Alexander Snelgrove
Jean Kiani
Lindsay McCrea
Antony Perridge
Margaret Moss
Philip Taylor
John & Irene Hunter-Paterson
Frank Fraczek
Gordon Innes West
Duncan Goldthorp
Sharon Murray
Bruce Borthwick
Craig Allison
Norrie Murray
Jim Graham
Liz Thomas
William Gordon
Helen Buchanan
Ian Munro
Robert Bruce
Karin Laurie
Kieran Brennan Kelly
James Addison
Alasdair Watson
Duncan McDonald
Alison McNerney
Alex Holmes
Malcolm Smith
Rebecca Glen
James Dippie
Charlotte Liston Sutherland
Daniel Laurie
Jane MacKenzie
Douglas Andrew Arthur -aka - Marvin Stone
Fiona Hicks
Paul Winkler
Al Eddie
Catherine Coutts
Leslie Wilson
Charles Fleming
Phil Bremner
Linda Mayes
Gordon Sprott
Sophie Alderdice
Ian Waugh
Thomas Sanderson
Amanda Wainwright
James Stamper
Sally Sanderson
Richard Gwynne-Jones
Tom Banigan
Bobby Mcdermott
Graham Campbell
Margaret Banigan
Archie Dalrymple
Jacqueline Herriott
Michael Riddle
John Fogg
Kevin McIntyre
Irene Farish
William Goldie
Tony Davison
Robin McHugh
Elizabeth Webster
Willie White
Alexander McAulay
Antony Ivatt
Bryan Cunningham
Deborah Shearer
Hilary Finch
Mark Batchelor
Elaine Toye
Donald Malley
Penelope Dransart
James Cruickshank
Maureen Law
Roddy Scott
Alan Duncan
John & Sandra Christison
Jan Mayor
Duncan
Margaret Wallace Long
David McGrath
Joanne Clunie
Stan Kujawa
Korin Vallance
Mark Duffy
Barbara Small
Kit Sebastian Renard
Brian Powell
Susan Johnson
Christine Boyle
Michael Mathewson
Marion Laird
Graham Campbell
Gavin Johnston
Caroline Williamson
Margaret Brogan
Helen Mc Clymont
John Wood
Brian McKenna
Gerald Smith
Ian McMillan
Ali Brown
Linda Watkins
Pauline Campbell
Anne McRae
Kirsty Duncan
Rebecca Hughes
Ken Law
Miss Firth
Dennis McKay
Alan Magnus-Bennett
Jennifer Watson
Michael Reilly
James White
Faye MacFarlane
Leonard Hobbs
Lesley Rankine
Steve Gibbs
Jan Beaumont
George McCarron
Shirley Sharpe
Margaret McGill
Rita Hopper
Bruce Royle
Colin Black
Gayle Casey
Morag Connell
[1] https://www.gov.scot/publications/building-new-scotland-creating-modern-constitution-independent-scotland/
[2] Anon, 1988. A Claim of Right for Scotland, Edinburgh: [The Campaign]. The Scottish Parliament endorsed the Claim of Right on 26 January 2012, 28 March 2017 and 10 January 2023. The House of Commons endorsed the Claim of Right on 4 July 2018
[3] https://www.gov.scot/publications/building-new-scotland-creating-modern-constitution-independent-scotland/pages/5/
[4] https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/46/schedule/5
[5] https://www.scottishhumanrights.com/media/2606/iccpr-parallel-report-uk-examination.pdf
So done.