Scottish independence: A written constitution would guarantee the sovereignty of the people after leaving the UK – Angus Robertson

An independent Scotland’s new constitution would be put to a vote in a referendum

Normal countries have constitutions. They guarantee the rights of citizens and provide safeguards about the functioning of the state. The United States has had one since 1789 but the United Kingdom doesn’t have one at all. Neither the Tories nor Labour wants to change this, but Scotland can.

The Scottish Government has just published a vision for a Scottish constitution, which includes public involvement in deciding its final contents and includes proposed recognition of the NHS and strengthened human rights protections.

After becoming a normal independent country, an interim constitution “would describe the type of state that Scotland would be: at the point of independence we would be a country with a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy. It [the interim constitution] would establish the sovereignty of the people and set out the key institutions of the state, as well as its democratic processes and independent regulatory and oversight bodies. This would ensure that institutions like the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament are accountable to the people. It would provide constitutional recognition of the NHS in Scotland. The Scottish Government also proposes that an interim constitution for Scotland should place a duty on the post-independence Scottish Government to pursue nuclear disarmament.”

Public involvement would follow though, with a Constitutional Convention established to draw up the final constitution which would then be decided on by the people in a referendum. The exciting proposals for a Scottish constitution are the fourth publication of the Building a New Scotland prospectus. Full details are available on the Scottish Government website, www.gov.scot.

Angus Robertson is the SNP MSP for Edinburgh Central and Constitution, External Affairs and Culture Secretary