Will Scotland’s Referendum be ‘made in Scotland’?
The referendum must be for Scotland’s Parliament to shape. The Scottish Parliament should determine the referendum’s timing, franchise and the question, which will be open to independent scrutiny and testing, as was the previous referendum.
Scotland’s referendum should be built on the principles of democracy, mandate and precedent, so that the people of Scotland can have the choice that the current political situation demands.
The referendum must be ‘made in Scotland’ – with no strings attached, no blocking mechanisms applied and no Downing Street diktat. This description was used by the UK Government ahead of the 2014 referendum, and the same principle should apply now.