Independence Forum Scotland
Uniting the independence movement
Committee members
Convener Ian Grant is a retired Consultant Intensive Care Clinician and Anaesthetist, based near Edinburgh, and life-long believer in Scottish independence. He was a member of the SNP for around 40 years, was Convener of Edinburgh Western SNP, held other offices at branch level and was twice election agent.
Ian was a founder member of the Scottish independence Foundation (SIF) which raises and distributes money to pro-Indy campaigners and groups. With John Brown he co-wrote a small handbook on the case for independence, which has been distributed widely (100,000 copies). Through the Independence Forum, Ian hopes that we can produce an inspiring yet fully credible prospectus for an independent Scotland, and help establish a National Convention to let people discuss the future governance of their country.
Secretary John Hutchison has been a lifelong independence supporter though not a member of any political party. A chartered civil engineer and retired senior Council official, John is now a community advocate and has been active in the community land movement, democracy, and environmental organisations. He chaired the first Scottish Rural Parliament in 2014.
He has been involved in political campaigns and the justice system. John was a founding member of Yes Lochaber. John has chaired several bodies, including his local community council and is currently chair of Constitution for Scotland. His main approach is to encourage collaboration and hopes that can be achieved through the Forum.
Treasurer David Younger practised as a qualified architect in Milan and London from 1978 to 1998. Now he lives in Argyll. He was EU SPRINT Commission event organiser from 1992-6, and a FCO Contract specialist from 1992-8. A UNPO participant from 2001-3, he drafted protocols for the determination of stateless minorities for presentation to the ICJ in 2003 which were adopted into the UN Charter 2003. He has been a campaigner for Kurdish rights.
David contributed to a report on the EU Commission on Scotland’s rights within the EU post-independence and has been a contributor to Network for an Alternative Quest. He made an assessment of Swiss e-voting and comparison with secure DLT voting, presented in Zurich in 2023 and has examined UBI systems in Finland, Ontario and Kenya, 2018-2022.
Dr Tim Rideout was born on the Isle of Man and moved with his parents to South Africa in 1975 aged 13. He graduated from the University of Cape Town in Geography and Economics. He was required to leave South Africa in 1984 due to being anti-apartheid, then started a Ph.D in Edinburgh. Tim joined the SNP in 1988.
He joined the Edinburgh map makers, Bartholomew, in 1991 then founded XYZ Maps in 1998 with business partner Mark Fairbairn. He founded the Scottish Currency Group in 2019 to ensure Scotland has its own currency as soon as possible after Independence. Tim lives near Edinburgh.
Leah Gunn Barrett is a dual US/UK citizen who worked several years in London for Data Resources (DRI) Europe, The Economist and Tetra Pak. Leah returned to the US after her older brother’s murder in 1997 where she led gun control groups in Maryland and New York, and was a dean at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA).
After moving to Edinburgh in 2017, she became active in the Scottish independence movement, seeing how the UK’s exploitation of Scotland has held it back. She started a letter writing group to counter unionist propaganda. She’s a member of the Scottish Currency Group and former member of the Liberation Movement’s SNC Steering Group.
Leah holds degrees in economics, international affairs, Russian and teaching from Carleton College, Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University.
William Duguid is a retired IT consultant based in Bridge of Earn. He became a firm supporter of Scottish independence in 2013, when he moved back to Scotland after 35 years studying and working in London, South East England and the Netherlands. He is a founding director of Perth & Kinross Yes Hub, of which he has been the main organiser since it opened in 2019, a co-founder of Common Weal Perth & Kinross, which was established in 2015, and the co-ordinator of Perthshire Independence Network since 2020.
William’s other main interest is writing. He is currently Vice-President of Perthshire Writers and edited the group’s 2024 anthology, ‘A Pocketful of Perthshire’.
Within the Independence Forum he specialises in communications, and is also part of the planning committee for the National Convention.
John Proctor is convener of Energy Scotland, an association of Scottish based energy professionals focused on responding to Scotland’s energy challenge of delivering a secure, decarbonised, affordable, energy system which benefits Scotland’s people and industry.
John spent 43 years in the energy generation sector. He retired in December 2023 from his role as General Manager and Head of Operations & Engineering at InterGen, an independent energy generator based in Edinburgh.
He graduated from Paisley (now West of Scotland University) with an Honours Degree in Industrial Engineering, having served his technical apprenticeship at John Brown Engineering.
Dr Cathy Gunn was Associate Professor, Deputy Director and Head of eLearning for a Higher Education Research Centre at Auckland University, New Zealand, before she retired in 2020.
A former student journalist and economics writer with Lloyd’s of London Press Ltd, Cathy returned home to active retirement and nana duties in Scotland in 2024.
Jim Daly has spent most of his working life in the IT sector and currently works as a Learning Technology Adviser at Edinburgh Napier University.
He has been active in the independence movement since his return to Scotland in 2018.
Jim is a member of Yes Marchmont and Morningside and a member of the national committee of Respect Scottish Sovereignty. He has been involved in various initiatives within the independence movement and runs ‘Myth Busters’, a website featuring letters by independence activists which have been published in national newspapers.
