Dear {name}

The e-newsletter is back, and my apologies for missing two editions.  As you may know Nadia and I were married in Kerala and with our Honeymoon followed by the return to Parliament and time has escaped me.

During the period the momentum for constitutional change across these islands has picked up pass.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, my former SNP colleague Chris Law asked a simple but fundamental question. If the United Kingdom is genuinely a voluntary union, how can the people of Scotland choose to leave it?

Chris pointed out that the Good Friday Agreement provides a democratic route through which the people of Ireland can determine their constitutional future, while Scotland has no equivalent legal mechanism.

In response, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that Scotland was in “exactly the same situation” as Northern Ireland. He accepted that, where public opinion demonstrates clear majority support, the demand for a referendum must be considered.

Downing Street has since tried to walk back those remarks, insisting that another independence referendum remains “off limits”. But the Prime Minister cannot have it both ways. A union which people are legally prevented from leaving is not a voluntary union.

This exchange came just days before another important development.

On Monday, John Swinney joined Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth, Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O’Neill in Cardiff. Together, they signed a declaration affirming the right of the people of Scotland, Wales and Ireland to determine their own constitutional futures.

The Cardiff Declaration states clearly:

“Our nations have the right to self-determination. No Westminster government has the right to block democracy or undermine the principle that our people will decide their own future.”

It also calls on the UK Government to prepare for, plan and facilitate constitutional change.

That is a significant development. For the first time, the parties leading all three devolved nations are working together to challenge Westminster’s claim that it alone can decide whether our people are permitted to choose their own future.

The political parties cannot achieve that transformation alone. Constitutional change must also be driven by people, communities and civic organisations.  Independence will only come about when enough of us demand it.

That is why, on Friday 25 September, a wider consortium of Yes groups from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, together with representatives from the Republic of Ireland, will meet in Cardiff. The purpose of that gathering will be to develop civic and democratic approaches which can support and build upon the declaration made by our party leaders.

Each of our nations has its own circumstances and will follow its own democratic path. However, all believe sovereignty rests with the people, not with whichever government happens to occupy Downing Street.

Support for constitutional change is growing.  The momentum is picking up - and the end of the Union is coming into sight.

 Yours for Scotland,

Martyn Day MSP

Falkirk East and Linlithgow

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