The conundrum

Here is the conundrum. In order that the people of Scotland might fully and freely exercise our sovereignty, Scotland’s independence must be restored. In order to restore Scotland’s independence, the people of Scotland must fully and freely exercise our sovereignty. The following is from an article published in September 2023.

Sovereign isn’t just what we are; it is what we do. You cannot be passively sovereign. I want people to realise that they can act in the name of the sovereignty of the people in ways they’ve previously been told they were not permitted to act.

The solution to this conundrum is actually very simple. We must act as if we are an independent nation in order to become an independent nation. We must do something that only an independent nation can do. Independence doesn’t come from waiting. It comes from acting. It comes from being assertive. It comes from assuming whatever powers are needed to make it so.

Obviously, this will give rise to confrontation with the British state. Which is why we must be cautious and clever about what powers we initially assume. There is no point asserting powers that we cannot act on. Sovereign isn’t just what we are; it is what we do.

The SNP talks as if the people of Scotland are sovereign. But it acts as if Westminster is sovereign. Scotland’s cause requires political leadership that is prepared to act sovereignly. John Swinney is a slave to the Sturgeon doctrine. The Sturgeon doctrine is all about tame compliance. Scotland’s cause requires political leadership that is capable of bold defiance. True leadership takes people to places they didn’t know they could go. True leadership is doing what is right, not what is permitted.

It is right that the Scottish Parliament should have the competences of a national parliament. Where these competences are withheld, they must be repossessed. Because it overarches all other competencies, the first competence to be repossessed must be in relation to constitutional matters. Everything else will follow.