Landmark debate on Claim of Right - The Press Association

(UKPA) – 4 hours ago 

Members of the Scottish Parliament are to be urged to affirm the "sovereign right" of the country's people in determining their government.

Holyrood is to stage a "landmark debate" on the Claim of Right.

The document, drawn up by a cross-party steering group in 1988, stated: "We do hereby acknowledge the sovereign right of the Scottish people to determine the form of government best suited to their needs."

At the time, it was signed by all Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs apart from Tam Dalyell.

The SNP did not sign the Claim of Right then, as the Scottish Constitutional Convention, which followed on from the cross party group, did not consider independence. However, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will urge politicians from all parties to back it.

She said: "This is a landmark debate for the Parliament and for Scotland. It is an opportunity for MSPs across the political spectrum to support the Scottish constitutional and legal tradition that the people are sovereign, and that the people have the right to determine the form of government best suited to their needs.

"The SNP have always supported this fine tradition, every Labour and Lib Dem MP bar one signed up to it in the 1980s, and we hope and believe that Parliament can unite around the Claim of Right as we debate Scotland's future anew."

The debate comes the day after First Minister Alex Salmond unveiled the SNP's consultation on an independence referendum.

He said the Scottish Government would present voters with a "short, straightforward and clear" choice on the country's future by asking them: "Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?"

The consultation document includes the possibility of the referendum featuring a question on further powers for the Scottish Parliament, and also asks for views on allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote and having the ballot on a Saturday.

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