WEATHER permitting, South Ayrshire Common Weal’s meeting tonight will receive a presentation on a provisional constitution for a self-governing Scottish state.
Starting at 7pm in The Glenpark in Ayr, the meeting will be addressed by Bob Ingram, co-ordinator for the Centre for Scottish Constitutional Studies.
According to the group’s Facebook page, Bob is coming all the way from Inverurie, so if he makes it they want to “give him a big audience”.
For those not in the know, the Centre for Scottish Constitutional Studies recently published a “Guide to a Provisional Constitution for Scotland” which can be viewed online at http://www.scottishconstitution.scot.
The guide usefully explains: “A codified written Constitution is a framework for government institutions rather than a detailed policy document. It sets out the fundamental law that defines the state, establishes and regulates its institutions, protects its citizens by authorising the extent of powers available to the government, and in general provides an overarching legal framework for the governance and well-being of the people and the conduct of politics.”
It also calls for public involvement in drafting the constitution of an independent Scotland: “It is considered that the necessary constitutional reform can only be achieved by a codified written Constitution. Further, the new Constitution should be compiled following extensive public debate.”
That’s surely something we can all agree on.
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