A Wee Constitutional

Since it is open season on ‘cybernats’ I thought I would help stir up some more keech to keep our Unionist friends slapping, scratching, itching and swelling as the cybernat swarms encircle and bite – the political version of the famous Scottish Midge.

I have become wearisome reading all the ‘too stupid’ propaganda that appears even on Newsnet Scotland from time to time. The ‘too stupid’ line that constantly irks is the idea we can not risk being independent because we have no written constitution and, by inference, Wee Eck is planning a Hitler style take over of an independent Scotland if we do not.  It does not seem to matter if you point them towards the SNP’s draft constitution for an independent Scotland the irritating noise still floats around the room – you are too stupid to work out your own constitution Scotland. Worse from the likes of Mr O’Neill QC who seems to consider the sovereign Scots are legally incompetent to decide what Scots Law should look like – we are that stupid.

So I thought why not take a wee constitutional around a Scottish Constitution and what I think it could look like. The first and most important part will be:

Item one:

In accordance with over 700 years of constitutional principle and right the people of Scotland are and will remain sovereign

Item two:

The Scottish Parliament will be unicameral and proportional in election. The Scottish Parliament will be lent the people of Scotland’s sovereignty for a fixed period of four years to enact laws and bills and pursue policy at home and abroad in the best interests of the Realm of Scotland and the common weal of the sovereign people. When a set number of sovereign Scots raise concern over Parliament’s direction they can raise petition for a referendum to hold Parliament in check until the matter is settled.

Item three:

The constitutional head of state will continue to reside in the agreement established by the 1689 ‘Claim of Right’ with regards the ‘Honours of Scotland’ until such time as the sovereign people of Scotland decide otherwise

Item four:

An all arms defence force will be duly constituted and commissioned to protect Scotland’s borders and territorial rights. Its make up to reflect Realm of Scotland’s needs and political alliances. They will swear allegiance to the constitutional head of state as the representative of the sovereign people of Scotland from whom the Head of State is given right. The defence force’s sole loyalty is to the sovereign people of Scotland.

Item five:

Scots Law will retain its independence from the body politic while enacting such laws which are handed down by Parliament. The justices and all others engaged in the application of Scots Law are enjoined to ensure Scots Law is applied with rigour, accuracy and - above all – equality; whether base or moneyed, parliamentarian or common criminal. Scots Law sees no person only the objective evidence in law, placed before it, in making its decision of Guilty, Not Guilty or Not Proven. Scots Law will continue with its reliance for criminal conviction or release by the right of jury trial by their peers, long established in this realm.

Item six:

The Treasury Bank of Scotland will be established and tasked to ensure the fiscal status of the Scottish Realm is not prejudiced by speculation, high parliamentary debt to repayment ratios or inadequate funding of pensions and the Scottish currency is set at an exchange level to enable Scots commerce to compete worldwide. The regulation of commercial banks and other financial services registered to operate in Scotland to ensure they carry sufficient reserves to cover lending and other risks for their operations in Scotland. The Treasury Bank of Scotland will not hold any liability in the situation where any commercial bank or financial services find themselves over-extended or insolvent. The liability will be the sole burden of the company’s own shareholders.

The point about any constitution is it must be straight forward, clear and applicable by all folk. It must reflect the needs and expectations of the country and state what actually happens, not some wish list. Keeping a constitution to one sheet of A4 makes it far easier to implement and for the sovereign people to police. Strangely the simpler and more precise a constitution is written the harder it is for people to find or create loop holes to wiggle through.

There was an old adage when I was writing ISO 9000 process and quality management systems; the more complex they are made the less likely are they to be applied and kept to.

If you take item six for instance. It is common knowledge the Bank of England was well aware of the CDO problem, the associated unsupportable speculation yet did little or nothing to reign in the likes of Northern Rock or the Halifax’s over use of, over exposure to CDOs and we are now suffering the consequences. Item six states the role of a future Treasury Bank of Scotland is to ensure such excessive speculation is prevented as it is a threat to the security of the Scottish Realm, further more item six gives the Treasury Bank the right to regulate to ensure the risk is minimal while making clear the shareholders will be liable in total for any misadventure by their bank, they can not expect the Scottish Treasury to bail them out. In turn this statement spikes the Unionist line of too poor Scotland could not afford to bail out its banks and makes the commercial banks more prudent in the conduct of their Scottish operations.

So there you have it - a short constitutional around a draft constitution. Have fun playing with this draft, experimenting with what the clauses mean and how they impact on how an independent Scotland could be. 

The three magic questions are:

What is it you do?

How are you supposed to do it?

Please show me what you actually do?