A New Scotland: Building an Equal, Fair and Sustainable Society

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live in a country where decisions about how we use our assets, talents and resources reflect our values and democratic choices, allowing Scotland to develop the kind of inclusive, consensus-driven economic policies that serve other European countries so well. The evidence set out in the full publication shows that Scotland has the potential to do so much better than this. Independent countries comparable to Scotland are happier, wealthier, and fairer than the UK. They are among the most successful economies in the world. The UK Defence Journal writes that the defence of Scotland is best served as part of the UK. [175] Scotland is said to benefit from a collective defence force and an independent Scotland would weaken the UK's defence posture. [176] There are many UK defence installations in Scotland other than Trident and many Scottish people serve in the British Armed Forces. There are 12,000 service personnel in Scotland and a further 18,500 civilian jobs in the armed forces defence industry. It is expected Scotland would lose defence jobs. For example, Lord West said Scotland could lose 20,000 or 25,000 jobs. [177] When the time is right, Scotland would move from using sterling to having our own currency, the Scottish pound. Why should we not be able to match the success of those independent countries that are both more productive and more equal than the UK?

put a partnership approach between business, unions, government, and others at the heart of economic policy-makingIndependence would enable the creation of an economy that works better for everyone who does business in Scotland. The proposals in Building a New Scotland: A stronger economy with independence are designed to help your business to: It will help us think about, and describe, the sort of country we want Scotland to be. And by helping to enhance and protect important rights, it will make a genuine and significant difference to people’s lives. The Centre for Constitutional Change stated during the 2016 EU referendum campaign that the "international relations aspect of the Brexit debate looks somewhat similar to the debate about Scottish independence". [185] There is no agreed process for Scottish independence and there would be no negotiations of the terms of independence before a positive referendum result. [186] Ruth Davidson has described "independence because of Brexit" as "amputating your foot because you've stubbed your toe". [187] The common use of the term Brexit has led some sources to describe Scottish independence as "Scexit", [188] [189] [190] [191] a portmanteau of Scotland + exit. [192] Support for independence [ edit ] Pro-independence rally in Glasgow, 2018 A week later, Prime Minister Boris Johnson rejected the request for a Section 30 transfer of powers. [89] The Scottish Government lodged a case with the Supreme Court to determine whether the powers to hold a referendum are within the competence of the Scottish Parliament. A hearing took place on 11 and 12 October 2022, [90] [91] and a month later the Supreme Court ruled that the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to legislate for an independence referendum. [92]

A category of 'Scottish citizenship' does not currently exist, as nationality law is reserved to Westminster. In the event of independence, Scotland and the rest of the UK would need to set new citizenship laws to allocate British and/or Scottish citizenship to existing British citizens and set out Scotland's new nationality laws. For the 2014 referendum, the Yes side said Scotland would tolerate dual citizenship. British citizens habitually resident in Scotland and Scottish-born British citizens elsewhere would have been able to become Scottish citizens automatically. [129] SNP MP Pete Wishart said in 2013 that Scots would 'of course' be able to keep a UK passport, but Home Secretary Theresa May said Scots may not have that option. [130] Economy [ edit ] Shortly before the UK left the European single market, the Boris Johnson regime sought through the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 to restrict the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. The primary purpose of the act is to constrain the capacity of the devolved institutions to use their regulatory autonomy. [71] The legislation undermines the capability of the Scottish legislature to make different economic or social choices from those made in Westminster. [80] In a January 2021 editorial concerning rising support for independence and its potential to break up the union, the Financial Times indicated that the Internal Market Act may serve to further the cause of independence: [81] The UK has lower productivity, consistently lower business investment, significantly higher inequality, and higher poverty than European countries comparable to Scotland.The Labour Party won the 1997 general election in a landslide, and Donald Dewar as Secretary of State for Scotland agreed to the proposals for a Scottish Parliament. A referendum was held in September and 74.3% of those who voted approved the devolution plan (44.87% of the electorate). [33] The Parliament of the United Kingdom subsequently approved the Scotland Act 1998 which created an elected Scottish Parliament with control over most domestic policy. [22] In May 1999, Scotland held its first election for a devolved parliament, and in July 1999, the Scottish Parliament held session for the first time since the previous parliament had been adjourned in 1707, after a gap of 292 years. Donald Dewar of the Labour Party subsequently became the First Minister of Scotland, while the Scottish National Party became the main opposition party. The egalitarian song " A Man's A Man for A' That", by Robert Burns, was performed at the opening ceremony. [34] One driven by Westminster, which is taking advantage of a Brexit Scotland didn’t vote for, to erode our rights and undermine our national Parliament. Independence, and membership of the EU, can together make the most of that potential — for the whole of Scotland.

As those examples help to demonstrate, the very process of creating a constitution would be energising. It’s a document that will be created by the people, as well as for the people. In the context of the Westminster system, these proposals do sound radical. We are after all, planning to involve the entire country in discussions about fundamental constitutional change. But when you look beyond Westminster, you can see that our proposals are in line with steps that have been taken by other nations right across the world. But we are tied to a low-growth, low-productivity UK economy that is starting to feel the full effects of Brexit.With independence, decisions about all these things would be for the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government, elected by the people of Scotland, to make. Decisions would be made based only on what is best for Scotland. The Scottish Government has a plan for becoming independent