Citizens' Convention Info

Background

In summer 2023, Believe in Scotland (BiS) published a document called the Route to Independence. This suggested, amongst other things, that the Scottish Government should create a new Convention on Independence and prepare to use the next General Election as a de facto Referendum. Our plan was not implemented.  

The BiS Scottish Independence Congress on the 22nd of November 2023 was attended by delegates representing 142 Yes Groups and there was a general consensus calling for BiS to seek to take the lead in establishing a Constitutional Convention on behalf of the independence movement.

Following a period of consultation and research into Constitutional Conventions, Citizens’ Assemblies and other policy engagement programmes, BiS has concluded that a Citizens’ Convention is the best solution to unblock the constitutional logjam and also to co-create an inspiring vision for an independent Scotland that will move support into an unassailable lead in the polls.

The plan was reviewed and approved by 256 Believe in Scotland Stakeholder members in a meeting on Tuesday the 9th of July 2024. 

Introduction 

The independence movement blossomed during the 2014 referendum campaign but following the result, it became too political, focussed on policy debate, and not on the hopes and dreams of the people.

A key goal of the Citizens' Convention will be to form a deep understanding of how independence relates not just to hopes and dreams but also to people's daily concerns, so that we can provide relevant solutions to their everyday problems. 

In short, it will refocus the conversation on independence from the echo-chambers of social media to a genuine and far reaching national conversation. Reconnecting the independence movement with the needs of the people. This proposal is totally original in terms of scale and planned impact and is not comparable to any other form of alternative convention, congress or forum currently being discussed in Scotland.

A new path to independence

The Scottish Government needs to accept that an agreed referendum route to independence is closed for the immediate future. Scotland needs a new path to independence and our next move needs to break the mould of constitutional political positioning. Believe in Scotland is proposing a new style Scottish Citizens’ Convention that will do just that.

What is most dangerous to the union is the year-long (at least) democratic engagement process in the lead up to a referendum vote, not just the vote itself. A vote tomorrow would be around 50/50, a vote after a year of engagement will deliver independence. 

We believe that Scotland can have that national conversation in a far more inclusive and productive way, ahead of a potential de facto independence referendum. The Scottish Government doesn’t need a referendum (nor Westminster’s permission) to engage the people of Scotland and it can do so in a way that creates a cultural shift, as well as an increase in ambition for, and confidence in, our nation. 

Scotland needs a new style Citizens' Convention

We can achieve that with the creation of a new vehicle, a new style Citizens’ Convention, with a goal of ‘Creating a Better Scotland’ with a focus on a transition to a ‘Wellbeing Economic Approach’. The Citizens’ Convention would engage the people of Scotland, civic Scotland, charities, campaigns, unions, churches, think tanks and more, bringing them together to co-create a plan for a better Scotland.

The Citizens’ Convention can ask the Scottish people to help design a better future for their nation, to share their hopes, dreams and aspirations for a better Scotland. When we help the people co-create a shared story of a better Scotland – that will become Scotland’s national mission.

This proposal for a new style Citizens' Convention will break the mould. A boring political yes bubble talking shop will not come close to delivering. It needs to create a paradigm shift, to drive, within two years, a social construct change across the nation.

We believe our proposed Citizens’ Convention will do that.

Avoiding legal challenges

The Supreme Court has ruled that the issue of the Constitution is beyond the powers of the Scottish Government. Not only does that mean that Holyrood cannot legislate for or fund an independence referendum, it means it would not be able to fund an Independence

Convention, a convention that considers independence as the sole constitutional option.

However, speed is of the essence and given the high probability of malicious legal moves to limit the Scottish Government’s ability to fund work on independence, we believe the Citizens’ Convention therefore should not set out to consider the constitutional issues around the implementation of the strategy for creating a better Scotland. That can be done by the independence movement and pro-independence political parties as a follow-on exercise.

This means that the Scottish Government cannot be blocked from funding the Citizens’ Convention by Westminster. 

A challenge to realise the hopes and dreams of the nation

Once the plan for a better Scotland has been crafted at the behest of the Scottish people and civic Scotland, the challenge for all political parties is to explain how they can best deliver the plan. The Convention’s finished plan will represent nothing less than a reflection of the hopes and dreams of the Scottish people for a better Scotland. It will be based on the input of citizens and civic organisations, informed by global best practice. Believe in Scotland considers there to be zero possibility of such an ambitious plan being delivered by any constitutional option other than full independence. 

If prioritised by the Scottish Parliament, the Citizens’ Convention can open the door to using the Scottish Parliamentary Elections in 2026 as a de facto referendum, with the highest possible probability of an independence victory.

It's people not politics and systems thinking - not soundbites that will deliver independence

No political party can deliver independence on its own, nor a wellbeing economy. Both must come from the people because politicians don’t create waves, they ride them. The Citizens’ Convention will not be in the business of promoting policies or political partisanship but will be there to solve Scotland’s fundamental problems and drive an exponential increase in our nation’s ambitions. It will do this by facilitating a more positive mindset change and socioeconomic paradigm shift.

Properly implemented, a Citizens’ Convention would be a better way to have that conversation than a referendum campaign, where adversaries take set positions, refuse to engage and fall into political party tribalism.

A Parallel Independence Campaign.

Believe in Scotland will of course facilitate a parallel grassroots led independence campaign focussed on increasing the nation’s ambition, matching our campaign to the values of the nation and cultural change, not politics and policies. In order to mobilise Scottish public opinion behind the conclusions of the Citizens’ Convention.

The predicted impact on independence support

Past examples of conventions and citizens assemblies

A tight schedule

The Citizens’ Convention will operate through 2025 with initial reports and plans being published from August 2025 onwards. The full report will be published at the end of January 2026, leaving three months to campaign for a potential de facto referendum, with independence polling expected to start well in the lead.

The Citizens’ Convention final report, 'Creating a New Scotland', can be turned into a new prospectus for independence by the movement. Simultaneously, before Holyrood 2026, all the decisions required about an independent Scotland should have been taken (by Scotgov and the independence movement) and there should be a detailed project plan in place, covering nation-building steps that are clearly communicated to the people of Scotland. This would include a plan for negotiating independence and gaining international recognition of Scotland’s statehood (the opposite of the Brexit implementation experience where there was no plan).