The Road to Independence

The sovereign Scottish People hold independence in their hands

In January I published a letter by Andy Anderson in which he outlines a clear route to independence. He argues that there is no such thing as ‘British sovereignty,’ which is a fig leaf for English parliamentary sovereignty, where Parliament and the Crown are above the People. But Scotland’s constitutional basis is popular sovereignty, where the People are the ultimate authority, so it’s silly to think we have to get ‘permission’ from Westminster for an authority we already possess.

Andy has given me permission to publish his latest letter on the subject, which is addressed to the independence-supporting candidates in the current general election. He develops his argument further by saying that the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) bill is a mechanism that could put Scotland on the road to independence. All the Scottish administration needs to do is insert the words “Subject to referendum” into the bill to establish the authority of the Scottish People to effect constitutional changes. He also makes a plea for just one indy-supporting candidate per constituency so the indy vote isn’t split, letting in a unionist.

We should all send similar letters to the indy candidates in our constituencies. If they are serious about getting us out of this union, they should be willing to listen.

Visit the website, https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/elections/parl.2024-07-04/uk-parliament-elections/, to get a list of your local candidates with hyperlinks for contacting them.

I write to you as a fellow independence supporter who wants to see an independent Scotland in the near future. I appreciate your willingness to stand for election in order to represent the people in pursuit of that objective.

I would like to support your attempt to become a member of parliament in Westminster, but more importantly, perhaps in Edinburgh, and to address the issue of Scottish independence and how it can indeed be achieved within 5 years as John Swinney has suggested.

The big obstacle which now confronts us is to identify the road to independence and to see what steps our political representatives need to take in order to put us firmly on that road.

Currently, both the SNP and ALBA leadership have policies which depend on “negotiating” for our independence.

I know a thing or two about negotiations, having been a trade union negotiator all my working life, including at the UK Government level. It’s obvious to me that you should not plan to negotiate with someone who doesn’t have what you want, and would be unable to give it to you if he had it.

The idea that Scottish independence is in the gift of the UK government, or some other UK institution, and that it can be acquired by simple negotiations is naïve and ridiculous. There is no institution in the UK which holds Scottish Independence in its grasp, and if there was, they would not negotiate it away, because to do so would cause real problems for the English economy. So the idea of negotiating with the UK for our independence is senseless.

The sovereign Scottish People hold independence in their hands. This was the case in Scottish Constitutional law before the 1707 Treaty of Union. It was confirmed in that Union, and since then reaffirmed by both the House of Commons and the UKSC. It is still the position today.

The Scottish People know that they are sovereign, but seem to have trouble applying that sovereignty in a practical and effective way. I’d like to suggest how this can be done by the present Scottish Government with very little difficulty.

The Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) bill is currently going through the Scottish Parliament. If the Scottish Government made a minor amendment to the procedure for processing this bill, and required it to be approved by the People in a referendum (because parts of this bill are making constitutional changes which have been established in Scots law since before the Union in 1707), this would establish the sovereign authority of the Scottish People. The Scottish Government could, and should decide, that constitutional changes must be approved by the Scottish sovereign power, the People.

“Royal Assent” signifies sovereign authority for UK bills and has been withheld from Scottish legislation by a Tory Minister with the approval of the UK Supreme Court (UKSC), so this could happen again. However, if the Scottish Government were to put this bill to the sovereign Scottish People, it would not only provide us with the highest sovereign authority in line with Scottish constitutional law, but also it could not be challenged by any UK authority or internationally.

If the SNP Government used their current power to legislate for a referendum on this bill, they would show how other important constitutional matters could be put to the Scottish People, including ending the union. That is a clear route to independence.

John Swinney says he can’t ignore the UKSC and must comply with the rule of law. But the 2022 UKSC ruling was about the Scottish Government acting outwith the terms of the Scotland Act, a Westminster Statute where the UKSC has authority.

However, the UKSC has NO authority or place in Scottish constitutional law, which was well established prior to 1707. So, acting in the way I suggest is not ignoring the UKSC but merely addressing issues over which the UKSC has no authority.

This current General Election has very little relevance to Scotland, and indeed could be used by the Unionists to divide the independence movement. I hope you won’t allow yourself to be part of this Unionist ploy.

The wise thing for independence supporters to do is present a united front at this election, and work to maximise the independence vote in the 2026 Scottish election.

The best way to do that is for all sitting independence supporting MPs standing again in their own seats to be unopposed by either the SNP or ALBA. Indeed, SNP and ALBA members should join with the larger indy supporting movement and provide only one candidate in this first-past-the-post race.

If you, and all other indy supporting candidates do this, we can confound the Unionist strategy and win a clear majority of seats. More importantly, we can get indy supporters to recognise that in the Scottish election which follows, voting SNP (1) and ALBA (2) makes more sense than the SNP both votes nonsense, as this would give us a clear indy majority after the Scottish elections.

We don’t need to act like Pavlov’s dogs and put up a “party” candidate at every election. If we act wisely we can win both elections for independence supporters and improve the lot of both the SNP and ALBA for the Scottish elections in 2026.

Andy Anderson