OUR OWN DEMOCRACY, THE WAY FORWARD

Photo: Glenfinnan Viaduct. Courtesy of Connor Mollison

Now that the voting registration link has been set up, what can we expect from Scotland Decides?

First of all, it may be useful to repeat what this platform is about in essence and why we need to have it. After all, we do have the electoral register so why not just use that? Well, the current voting system is firmly in the hands of the political establishment and rests on the principle of representative democracy which, arguably, is in a state of near collapse but even if it weren’t, voting and the timing of such voting is restricted to party politics which is not the same as self-determination or freedom of choice. Even when a referendum is called, it is at the call of the politicians and does not always address the question that needs to be asked nor the timing of such a question.

Using our online secure voting system you can activate a campaign on any issue local or national and put it to a vote.

We are not a campaigning organisation ourselves. We do, however, accept any organisation (subject to restrictions on content and ideology) including political parties. All have access to voting and we do not take any position on the aims or objectives of any campaign. We do support the Community Councils Forum and the democratic policies of the People’s Assembly Scotland in promoting local democracy through the community councils. We also support the calling of a national convention and will take steps to ensure that the general population have full access to the deliberations of such a convention including voting on the convention’s resolutions.

From the point of view of the broader electorate, we can call and hold a referendum at any time we like, assuming sufficient support for the referendum question exists. The result is fully verifiable and stands up in international law.

Do you want to hold a referendum on independence? We can do that and at any time the people of Scotland like. For such a proposal to pass requires the support of ten thousand registered voters. After that and an agreement on the wording of the question, we will supply a regular podcast, full information on issues of concern, aid in publicity campaigning and a full breakdown of the voting when it happens. We can offer advice on the timing and conduct of any campaign and are planning a series of civic education workshops.

So, what would the politicians do? It’s reasonable to expect that a majority of Scottish MPs would support such an obvious statement from the public given that they could be circumvented if they didn’t. It is equally reasonable to expect opposition from Westminster, however and this is where we can use the international system effectively.

There have been a number of suggestions or proposals to approach the UN and/or the International Court of Justice (ICJ). It is not clear what these ideas are and even less clear what they expect to achieve. The UN can tell us what we know already, that we have the right to self-determination, but they will stop short of endorsing independence – that is not their business. The ICJ cannot hear a case based on speculation that Scotland may wish to be independent. If, however, that decision has been made in a provable way, then any objection would come from Westminster and furthermore is beyond the remit of the Supreme Court to pass judgement. In short, the UK government would be obliged to take their case further through the agency of the ICJ and they would lose.

You can have your say now. And all for two quid.

We are currently developing our members’ page. Anybody may join as a member for free and comments about this article may be posted. In the meantime comments or questions may be made through the chat page or directly at david@scotlanddecides.org.

In order to avoid undue interference, we are entirely self-funded. Please consider making a donation to this cause by using the button on the registration page.