ACTIVISTS have taken the first steps to develop a prospectus for a “convention on self-determination and the future of Scotland”, according to a group of campaigners.
The Independence Forum (IFS), a non-party political network of groups across Scotland, took the first steps in establishing a convention prospectus at a meeting in Stirling earlier this month.
The in-person event concluded that the “national convention will not be a constitutional convention as such, but rather a convention on self-determination and the future of Scotland.”
This is understood to be different from what the SNP have backed.
The party has backed a proposal to convene MSPs, MPs and representatives from across civic society to negotiate independence if it wins the most Scottish seats at the next General Election.
SNP MP Joanna Cherry’s proposal was backed by party members at the October conference.
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The IFS has said proposals will be prepared by a “forum convention planning group”.
On its website, the group – convened by Ian Grant – argues that “devolution as it stands is not working” but that there is no clear consensus on future governance in Scotland.
Grant was a founding member of the Scottish Independence Foundation (SIF) which raises and distributes money to pro-independence campaigners and groups. With fellow activist John Brown, he co-wrote a small handbook on the case for independence.
Grant said: "In the aftermath of November 2022, when the UK Supreme Court trampled over the sovereignty of the Scottish people and their right to self-determination, a group of pro-independence activists took steps to establish the Independence Forum.
"It was agreed there was an urgent need to write a new prospectus for Scottish independence and to establish a national convention representing a broad spectrum of non-party-political bodies.
"The aim is to bring together those committed to a better future for their country characterised by self-determination at all levels, local and national".
Delegates identified topics that need to be addressed and the practicalities of moving the plan forward – including membership, secretariat, funding and frequency of meetings.
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The all-day session is to be followed by a plenary session in March to agree and map out the next steps.
IFS secretary Brown said: "The current situation is quite unlike that in the 1990s, when the first convention for a Scottish Parliament operated.
"Then, there was relative political consensus on the future governance of Scotland as a devolved administration and the convention at that time was clearly a constitutional convention.
"Now, there is no clear consensus on the future governance of Scotland, but there is broad agreement that devolution as it stands is not working satisfactorily. Hence this national convention will not be a constitutional convention as such, but rather a convention on the future of Scotland to improve governance through participative democracy.
"The Stirling gathering began the process of taking back powers by working together, to prepare a new prospectus and to establish new building blocks and new institutions for Scotland’s Future."
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