A plan for independence

Have you ever wondered how we restore our independence? Have you ever thought about how we get from voting for independence to actually leaving the UK? Because one thing’s for sure – however we vote in the 2026 Holyrood election, the UK will never just let us leave.

In any case, asking for Westminster’s consent keeps us tied to the UK and would be an act of treachery. Because, as a sovereign people, we don’t need Westminster’s permission for anything.

Independence is liberation

To free us from the Union imposed on Scotland in 1707, we need a plan to take our independence. A plan which, if adopted by all the pro-independence parties, would make the 2026 election the start of the process of restoring our rightful constitutional status.

If you agree with this plan, sign the petition to tell the pro-independence parties that you want them to include it in their election manifestos. The plan is called the Manifesto for Independence (M4I). Below is a summary of the M4I, or you can read it in full here.

A change of mindset

We must stop asking Westminster for independence. We are a sovereign people. The word ‘sovereignty’ is much used but little understood. To be sovereign is to be the ultimate authority. There is no higher authority than the people.

Before 1707 the Scottish people had been sovereign for a thousand years. This sovereignty was enshrined in the 1689 Claim of Right Act. The sovereignty of the people is absolute, indivisible, and inalienable. It cannot be negotiated or compromised or taken away.

The people decide

This means that the question of Scotland’s constitutional status is a matter for the people of Scotland alone. For Scotland’s independence to be restored it is sufficient that this be the democratic will of the sovereign people of Scotland.

Holyrood is our parliament

We need to make the next Scottish general election a referendum on returning to the Scottish Parliament powers which are being withheld by the British state. The Scottish Parliament is our legitimate, properly constituted national parliament. It cannot be otherwise when the Members of the Scottish Parliament are directly by the sovereign people of Scotland.

Our national parliament has been usurped by the British state and deprived of the power over the constitution which is the defining attribute of all national parliaments. We can make the 2026 Scottish general election a plebiscite, or referendum, on that issue if we can persuade the pro-independence parties to incorporate the Manifesto for Independence in their election manifestos.

The people’s mandate

In this way, we can provide the Scottish Parliament with a mandate to take back the powers in relation to Scotland’s constitution that rightfully belong to it. When people vote for any pro-independence party, there can be no doubt that they are voting for the Manifesto for Independence.

The Scottish Parliament must assert power over the constitution. This is the crucial part of the plan. The Scottish Parliament is a creation of the Scotland Act and that Act ‘reserves’ certain powers to Westminster, one of them being the “union of the kingdoms of Scotland and England”. That needs to change. Our parliament needs to take power over our constitution.

What next?

Once the Scottish Parliament has repossessed its powers over the constitution, it can convene a National Convention and recall Scotland’s MPs from Westminster to join with MSPs and representatives of civic society to draft a provisional constitution and plan a proper constitutional referendum.

An Independence Bill will then be presented to the Scottish Parliament. When enacted, this legislation will have the effect of dissolving the Union with England subject only to the approval of the people of Scotland.

The legislation will make provision for a confirmatory referendum, under the auspices of the Scottish Parliament and overseen by the National Convention (and probably the UN), in which voters may freely exercise their right of self-determination to approve or reject the proposal to end the Union and restore Scotland’s independence.

(It will be similar to Norway’s confirmatory referendum of 1905 after it declared its independence from Sweden, where the results were Yes: 368,204; No: 184)

What can you do?

All of this begins with and depends on you signing the Manifesto for Independence Petition, then sharing it as widely and as often as possible.