THE Scottish people are one of the most ancient nations in Europe, with 1500 years of shared experience as a political unit, during which time they have lived continuously within the bounds of their present national territory.

While recent archaeological research indicates a history going back for thousands of years, the written historical evidence shows the Scottish kingdom was founded by Fergus Mòr (pictured) around 500AD. According to the first record of the formal inauguration of a monarch, Áedán mac Gabhráin was consecrated King of Scots by St Columba in 574AD.

The Declaration of Arbroath of 1320 states Scotland had till that date been governed by “an uninterrupted succession of 113 kings, all of our own native and royal stock, without the intervening of any stranger”. Scotland was a single kingdom by the early ninth century, with the union of the Picts and Scots under King Kenneth I, some 200 years before England.

The nationhood of Scotland and the multi-national character of the United Kingdom have been widely recognised, including by the UK Government, parties across the political spectrum and civic society in Scotland.

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Hansard shows that on January 27, 2020, Patricia Gibson, the SNP MP for North Ayrshire and Arran, told the House of Commons: “Tonight, I rise to remind the House that the Claim of Right for Scotland is a principle that recognises that the people of Scotland have the sovereign right to determine the form of government best suited to their needs. This right is well established; it was first set out in the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320 and was most recently endorsed by Parliament in the Commons in a debate in July 2018 – a debate in which I was privileged and proud to speak.”

The acceptance of the Claim of Right by the House of Commons on July 4, 2018 is important in the current pressure for indyref2. Powerful too is the case of MacCormick v Lord Advocate in the Court of Session in 1953 when the Lord Advocate said: “The principle of unlimited sovereignty of parliament is a distinctly English principle and has no counterpart in Scottish constitutional law.”

The factor that makes Scotland’s Claim of Right to self-determination different from almost all others is that its participation within the present United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is not based on conquest or other forms of assimilation, but on a treaty under international law as well as two acts of Parliament that ratified and implemented the treaty.

These measures can, of course, legally be rescinded at any time since the circumstances that led to their conclusion now no longer prevail, and the disadvantages arising out of the present political structure are becoming daily more obvious. The elected Scottish Government and Parliament are completely competent to negotiate such a withdrawal from the treaty.

At present, Scotland is a country but not an independent state as it exists within the framework/political union of the UK yet retains its strong national identity and sovereign rights as accepted by the House of Commons in 2018.

The sovereignty of the “people” is the basis of the right to self-determination laid down in major international instruments such as the group of United Nations legal measures comprising the International Bill of Human Rights. The UN General Assembly has repeatedly laid down that the right to self-determination by identifiable “peoples” like the Scots is a fundamental human right. It should be noted that “peoples”, not governments or legislatures, expressly hold this right.

This international law, which is part of the modern global constitution, is absolutely binding on the UK. In accordance with Article 1 Par. 2 of the Charter of the United Nations, Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is simultaneously Article 1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, states: “All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social, and cultural development”.

For these reasons, preparations for our future status as an independent state are both right and proper, so visit constitutionforscotland.scot and interact with us.

Few people will fail to be aware of the highly distinctive Scottish national dress. Even Roman writers 2000 years ago described the tartan patterns of the clothing worn by their unconquerable adversaries – the Caledonians. Many countries share the bagpipe as a musical instrument, but nowhere was it brought to such a pitch of perfection as in Scotland, which is unique in possessing a large repertoire of classical music for it.

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The Scots share their heritage of Celtic graphic art with their Irish cousins but in music, dance, literature, architecture and many another field the Scottish culture is unique in the world.

On an international scale, Scotland is one of the few custodians of Europe’s ancient Celtic heritage, the preservation of which is a matter that concerns all the peoples of the continent.

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