Liberation Scotland challenge misleading Scottish Parliament Report
The Scottish Government position that the only legal mechanism for securing another independence referendum lies via Westminster relies in part on their acceptance of the conclusions from a Feb 2026 Scottish Parliament report1 into the constitutional position of Scotland within the UK.
This report – intended to consider all legal avenues for holding a future referendum on Scottish independence – accepted submissions from eleven academic experts (legal, constitutional, political) with only one of these based outside the UK, before concluding that (a) Scotland has no international legal right to unilaterally secede or hold a referendum without UK government approval, and (b) the primary route for independence involves legislation by the UK Parliament, either directly or through transfer of powers.
In its one-page submission to the report preparation committee, the UK Government stated that:
The UK’s constitutional arrangements are founded on the 1706 Treaty of Union enacted through the 1707 Acts of Union in 1707 which established the Parliament of GB (now the UK) whose sovereignty forms the cornerstone of the UK constitution;
The Scotland Act 1998 established the current devolution settlement and expressly reserves to the UK Parliament a number of aspects of the constitution, including the Union of the Kingdoms of Scotland & England and the United Kingdom Parliament itself; and
The UK Supreme Court 2022 judgment confirmed that legislation making provision for a poll on Scottish independence relates to the reserved matters of the Union of Scotland & England and therefore remains a matter solely for the UK Parliament.
In her submission, Professor Aileen McHarg, specifically cites Sara Salyers, Salvo, and Liberation Scotland by name, dismissing the work of both organisations and rejecting the clear evidence that:
the people of Scotland hold popular sovereignty under Scots constitutional law, guaranteed by the 1689 Claim of Right (CoR). NB. this is a pre & continuing condition of the ToU; and
the UN C-24 Committee (Special Committee on Decolonisation) will accept Scotland as a “non-self-governing territory” (i.e. colony) within the meaning of UN Resolution 1541. NB. McHarg incorrectly states the UN has only applied this to ‘overseas’ possessions.
We reject the flawed methodology, weak analysis and false outcomes of this report.
While correctly identifying the 1706 Treaty as the UK foundation document, the UK Government submission fails to acknowledge that the 1689 CoR remains extant today, thus guaranteeing Scots continuing sovereignty. This is a key condition of the Union! Further, it is legally absurd for the UK Government to claim the Scotland Act 1998 reduces the rights of one of the original Treaty partners under the foundation documents of the UK State. In these circumstances Scotland cannot ‘secede’ from a state, treaty and union that is essentially England with Scotland added to its control; it can only reassert its previous independent, sovereign status.
On 03 August the Liberation Scotland Committee (LSC) submitted a formal complaint to the Scottish Parliament about this report, specifically citing the inaccurate, dismissive and disputed statements by Prof McHarg in her submission, which are included as fact in this report without analysis or caveat. The original report (SP Paper 1030) can be found here
We are seeking a formal right of reply to this report and publication of our detailed response to set the record straight. Copies of the LSC report and our correspondence with the parliamentary clerks are attached. On 07 September we received a formal response from the Director of Scottish Parliamentary Business, rejecting our complaint. This Scottish Parliament report is a gross misrepresentation of Scotland’s constitutional position and the sovereign rights of Scots, and it must be corrected. Liberation Scotland intend to continue to challenge it.
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