The genesis of the manifesto for independence
The Manifesto for Independence was created in 2020 by Geoff Bush and Peter A Bell to pressure pro-independence parties like the SNP to take concrete steps towards restoring Scotland’s independence. The manifesto outlines a plan for achieving independence and calls for stronger commitment to this goal from political parties.
The intention was to create a plan that all members of the independence movement could support by focusing solely on the central constitutional issue and removing any extraneous details or policies. No mention of currency, central banks, or industrial policy was included, just a focus on the constitutional issue.
Suppose the people of a nation were kept in ignorance of their constitutional rights and recourses. Suppose they were, by various means both subtle and crude, uneducated and/or deceived regarding the history, traditions and culture of the nation they inhabit. What would become of these people?
Who would wish to create such a situation?
Who would benefit from the people of a nation being kept in ignorance of their entitlements under a constitution whose very existence has been kept from them?
In a very real sense, the true status of Scotland is foreign to the people of Scotland. The true standing of the people of Scotland is foreign to them. The real Scotland is, to a large part of the nation’s people, a foreign place. A place they are unaware of. A place that they have been purposefully kept in ignorance of.
What happens when they find out?