CAMPAIGNERS have drawn up a charter to “end Westminster rule” inspired by a working-class mass movement for political reform two centuries ago – and it includes the right for Scotland to become independent.

The Citizen Network is seeking input on a draft plan for a modern written constitution aiming to restore power “where it rightfully belongs” with people and communities.

The demands include setting up regional parliaments, replacing the House of Lords with an upper chamber of regions and nations and having proportional representation for all elections.

It also says the right of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland to make amendments to their membership of the Union must be clarified – including independence, if that is the “settled wish” of the people.

The document has been inspired by the Chartist movement, which emerged in 1836 seeking political rights and influence for the working class, such as a vote for all men and the secret ballot.

The Citizen Network says while people have the vote today, “too often our voice remains unheard”.

Simon Duffy, president of Citizen Network, said the Chartist movement was important as it did have a major influence on later reforms.

He said: “What they did was think about how to describe the type of reforms needed in the simplest form possible, so that ordinary people say, ‘I am going to put my name to that’.

“More than 20% of the population signed the Charter back in the 1830s – that is a huge mobilising impact.

“Although the Chartist movement was eventually crushed, they did set an agenda for change that played out over the following decades.”

Duffy said that while at an early stage, the “End Westminster Rule” charter was different to other proposals as it tackles the issue of the Union.

He argued debates over the topic of political reform often had a UK-wide focus, as there was a reluctance to open up the question of the future of the Union.

“For me, the crux will be this Unionist issue – if you are wedded to Unionism, you are in a sense wedded to perpetuating an unsolvable problem,” he said.

“At some point we have got to be brave enough to say the Union is on the table.

“I can’t believe you would ever get a situation where anyone would feel happy about an utter unification of the four countries into one country.

“So given they are four countries, then they have to have some sovereignty and that must include surely the right to leave.

“There might be loads of different ways of specifying the rules around that, but it has ultimately got to be treated as a voluntary unification.”

He added: “That is the million-dollar puzzle at the heart of the UK constitution – the fact we have never addressed that, we never created any rules to define how we deal with it.

“We just go from one crisis to another because we don’t have any ground rules, we don’t have a constitution.

“All of that puts power in the hands of the executive and allows them to keep rewriting the rules in their own favour, and all of that drives the ongoing corruption in the UK.”