THERE has been much debate about how Scotland can become independent when the UK Government refuses to allow a Section 30 referendum which First Minister Nicola Sturgeon continues to press for, so far in vain.

Now veteran independence campaigner Mike Fenwick has taken the question directly to the United Nations, and is calling on 100 Scots to sign a new declaration of Scottish sovereignty – the 100 is a clear reference to the Declaration of Arbroath of 1320 and its clarion call that while 100 Scots remain alive they will never consent to rule by the English.

Fenwick’s reasoning is simple: “More than 300 years ago a document was prepared in Edinburgh. It’s called the Treaty of Union and I did not consent to it ever, and I do not consent to it now. Years ago another document was prepared, it’s called the Scotland Act and in my view it puts Scotland in a prison. Did those who wrote the Declaration of Arbroath leave all sovereign Scots who are alive today a lesson? This initiative is a project to find the ‘First 100’ who will make their own ‘Declaration as a Sovereign Scot’ to be lodged with the United Nations under Article 1 (2) of the UN Charter which addresses the internationally recognised right to self-determination.”

Fenwick says it is necessary to tell the nations of the world that Scotland wants independence and especially the right to self-determination currently being denied by the UK Government. He has already sent three letters to Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, pointing out that the matter of Scottish independence has geo-political implications.

He wrote: “There are five Permanent Members of the Security Council, of which one is the UK. There is widespread evidence, both past, current, and to be anticipated, that the current UK Government will resist (at best) and strongly oppose and reject (at worst) any attempt to resolve the question of whether the sovereign people of Scotland can use normal democratic means of addressing the issue of Scotland regaining its independence, whether at elections or by way of referenda.”

He asks the question: “If the UK, as one member of the Security Council is seen to consistently act in a manner which is contrary to the UN Charter is it of sufficient importance to engage the interest of the other four members, or indeed of the wider community within the overall membership of the United Nations?”

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He added: “Earlier this year “The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons” came into force, at a time in contrast when the UK Government announced its intention to increase its number of nuclear warheads. Scotland was chosen, and remains, the location for the naval base where such nuclear warheads are stationed.

“One of the reasons that influences the UK Government in its opposition to Scottish independence is that there is considerable opposition within Scotland to that position, and that on gaining its independence it can be strongly suggested that there would be a request for the immediate withdrawal of all such warheads from Scotland – am I wrong in thinking this is a matter for United Nations interest?”

The declaration which Fenwick has drafted for 100 Sots to sign reads as follows: Exercising my Claim Of Right as a Sovereign Scot, I declare: “I do not consent to the terms of, nor the continuation of, the Treaty of Union established through the Acts of Union in 1707."

The National:

It goes on: “Inter alia, I adopt and rely upon the principles, and international legal recognition of Article 1 (2) – (Equal rights and self-determination of peoples) of the United Nations, and specifically the principle of self-determination and the right of peoples to decide their own government, and in so doing declare that I recognise the sole democratic legitimacy of the Scottish Parliament, and assert its primacy and permanence to act singularly on behalf of the Sovereign Scots whose votes alone establish and maintain its existence.

“That this Declaration is made by an individual Sovereign Scot to ensure that Scotland regains its independence as a Sovereign Nation, and in so doing can secure its economic future to not only offer opportunities to its people but equally to provide for the welfare of its people by entirely legal and democratic means and without any form of outside interference, and in an international context to support the United Nation’s Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, by the removal of all nuclear weapons from Scotland.”

Fenwick will be taking copies of the declaration to future pro-independence events.