
Welcome to the latest news from the SIC. Every month, we will bring you updates from the SIC (what we’ve been up to, what we are planning, news from our members) and information from across the independence movement! We want to share your news and events too: please do get in touch and let us know what you would like to see in this newsletter.
Update from SIC Council
The SIC had its regular monthly Council meeting on Thursday 29th October. We’ve been working on the production of Transitioning Scotland: building the institutions for our new country. This report will consist of a comprehensive set of discussion papers that outline how the institutions and structures required by an independent Scotland could function. We will soon be publishing the first of these papers (written by Bill Austin who is an international expert on customs and borders) which will examine Scotland’s Borders, and how these could work. Papers on security, currency and banking, and taxation will follow, with the complete report available in the summer of 2021, ready to guide Scotland’s newly elected Parliament. Iain Black, one of our co-conveners, wrote about this work recently for the National.
The SIC Executive is ensuring we keep in regular contact with the SNP as the party of Government in Scotland. And we are seeking to build stronger links with the wider grassroots independence movement, to offer coordination and support, and to share resources and support. If you or your organisation would like to know more about the SIC, please do get in touch!
Our next meeting will be on Thursday 27th November, where we will continue the discussion on a series of position statements that we can all agree on. These statements, on issues such as nuclear weapons, human rights, housing, etc. will guide our ongoing engagement with the Scottish Government, pro-independence political parties, civic institutions, communities, and others.
SIC Member in focus: Constitution for Scotland
SIC is a member-led organisation, and we want to help spread information about our members with the wider independence movement. This month, we feature Constitution for Scotland.
Constitution for Scotland (CfS) is a charity that has been set up specifically to run an interactive online public consultation on a draft Constitution. You can get involved in this online here, and find out more via Twitter.
CfS’s interactive site is based on the Consul platform which is internationally recognised and UN commended. As well as allowing you to read the model Constitution, the site makes a seamless link to an Interactive Hub where you can post comments, propose amendments and participate in a voting process which will automatically rank all the amendments by popular vote. The search facility allows you to find topics that interest you, eg. nuclear, tax, currency.
Most importantly, if you don’t have a lot of time, you can register and make your Quick Vote, to indicate your general support. This is critical as CfS needs to demonstrate engagement. Registering is essential to stop double counting and thus give credibility to the process.
The trustees realise that engaging in drafting a constitution isn’t what many folk choose to do. However, developing a Constitution which describes how an independent Scotland will operate and states clearly what social values will be embraced is a crucial job as we argue for Independence yet find many folk struggling to imagine how it will work. A Constitution helps answer the doorstep questions.
The trustees are happy to give presentations and have already ‘visited’ Oban, Rutherglen/Cambuslang, Lochaber, Edinburgh and will shortly go to Aberdeen, Inverclyde and possibly Perthshire.
We’re all trying to work out what we can do to help the Independence Movement forwards and drafting a Constitution for Scotland is a piece of business that we need to get done – please get engaged at www.constitutionforscotland.scot and tell others about it too.
Scotland’s Right to Choose
We have, along with other groups and organisations, been developing a campaign focused on our right, as a country, to determine our own future. It is clear that more people and organisations are starting to think that self-determination is the right approach for Scotland. Earlier this month, the Scottish Trades Union Congress (the STUC) have shifted their position to be in favour of Scotland’s right to choose, and we will be engaging with them (and others) to pursue this work. If you or your organisation are interested in being part of this campaign, please do get in touch with us by email.
Voices for Scotland Update
Voices for Scotland’s weekly Get Togethers continue to bring people from all over the country together to discuss issues that matter to you. Most recently, Sir Geoff Palmer joined the VfS team to discuss racism, colonialism, and what kind of future Scotland could chart. His message was quite clear: “We can’t change the past, but we can change the consequences of the past”. If you missed this, you can watch the discussion here.
In addition to these Get Togethers, VfS is organising a couple of other events in the coming months. Do look out for more details of a great day of activities planned for Saturday 12th December!
VfS is keen to be a resource for campaigners and groups across the country. You might also be interested in the resources they have developed or gathered so far, but if you have any other resources you’d like to share with the wider movement, do let them know.
If you would like to support the work of Voices for Scotland, as they reach new audiences and give more people in Scotland a voice, please do visit the donate page and become a regular donor. You can find out more about VfS via its Facebook and Twitter accounts, or by emailing them at info@voicesforscotland.scot.
Events for your diary
We know that there are lots of different things happening across Scotland, organised by campaign groups and others. If you would like your events featured in this newsletter, please let us know! Keep an eye on the SIC Facebook page where events we think are of interest will be shared.
You might be interested in the following events or discussions:
- An introduction to Modern Monetary Theory, Wednesday 4th November, 7.30pm, organised by Yes Edinburgh North and Leith
- An evening with Blair Jenkins, Monday 9th November, 7pm, organised by the Aberdeen Independence Movement
- VfS mini-festival, Saturday 12th December
We want to hear from you!
That’s it for this month. If you have anything you’d like to share with the wider independence movement (this email goes to several thousand people!), please do let us know. And do let us know what you think about this newsletter, and how we can make it better!
Thanks all.
Take care, and stay well.
The SIC Comms team
The Scottish Independence Convention
e: info@theconvention.scot f: facebook.com/ScotConvention t: twitter.com/ScotConvention w: independenceconvention.scot