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The Independence Forum was formally inaugurated in the summer of 2023, following the Supreme Court decision to effectively rule out a legal UK-approved referendum on independence. On 10 February 2024, in Stirling, we confronted that premise by taking the first tentative steps to towards establishing a National Convention on Scotland’s Future.
First steps
The Independence Forum met initially as an informal gathering of pro-independent groups, with the intention of re-uniting the movement. While it had a number of achievements, notably in establishing the Scottish Independence Library, it was only after the UK Supreme Court effectively ruled out a future legal UK-approved referendum that the Forum formalised itself and set itself a number of key objectives:
It is hoped that the National Convention will bring together a broad gathering of civic organisations, democratically elected representatives and peoples’ assembly and, in time, plan the future governance of Scotland, develop its future institutions, its structures and perhaps lead to a second chamber of parliament.
Looking back
The seeds were, however, sown much earlier than this.
Non parliamentary conventions have played a significant part in Scotland’s history and, in particular, the campaign to gain self-determination for the nation of Scotland. The Convention of the Estates of 1689 passed the Claim of Right which cemented the sovereignty of the Scottish people over royalty and the church.
The Scottish Convention of 1942 was set up by John MacCormick to promote home rule for Scotland followed by the establishment of the Scottish Covenant Association of 1951, which collected 2 million signatures in favour of home rule, albeit to no avail.
The Scottish Constitutional Convention of 1989 was formed from the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly, comprising members from most political parties, and led to the signing of an updated Claim of Right and the foundations of the current Scottish parliament, imperfect though it is, in 1999.
Looking forward
The political situation in 2024 is very different from 1989. Then, there was near consensus in Scotland for devolution. A convention was needed to make the case and draw up a potential constitution for the resultant parliament.
Now we have a highly polarised country with around 50% wishing Scotland to be an independent country and the other 50% opposed, in some cases vehemently so. The proponents of Scottish independence lost the referendum narrowly almost 10 years ago, yet the SNP has won election after election since then. Having secured mandate after mandate for independence, the party of government appear unable to deliver on them.
The November 2022 ruling of the UK Supreme Court, that court of dubious constitutional validity, has apparently trampled over the sovereignty of the Scottish people and the right to self-determination for Scotland.
We now find ourselves ten years on, in 2024, looking to convince a clear and outright majority of the Scottish people of the benefits of independence and still seeking a route to achieving that independence.
Sadly, in the 10 years since the referendum, there has been no serious examination of the 2014 referendum campaign to help inform our future direction. Furthermore, the lack of progress has led to a degree of dissent in the movement, and indeed fragmentation. There is therefore a clear need for a coming together, not just of the independence movement, but of civic Scotland and indeed of all people who care about Scotland’s future.
The National Convention Planning Assembly on 10 February began the process of forming a National Convention on Scotland’s Future.
Ian Grant, IFS Convenor
