An Orkney political campaigner is among the signatories to a new plan for independence unveiled by grassroots organisation Believe in Scotland.

Mike Robertson of Yes Orkney, which is affiliated to Believe in Scotland, was part of the steering group involved in drawing up The Route to Independence Statement, which was published at the weekend.

Mr Robertson, who is also a member of Orkney SNP, said:

“It was a tremendous team effort with many hours spent in online meetings and messages being exchanged in-between times, but I think we were all happy with the way it turned out. Now we have to see how it is received by all the parties.

“I think that for Orkney to have a signatory to this document seeking a route to independence is something to be proud of. This was genuinely a team effort involving representatives from all over Scotland.”

The plan proposes using a double majority mandate at the next UK General Election to trigger the process for Scotland leaving the UK.

According to the plan, a win in a referendum is based on a majority of votes and a win in a General Election is based on a majority of seats .However, it argues that as the UK Tory Government has blocked previous mandates for a referendum, the rules of a General Election victory apply to delivering a renewed mandate in the next Westminster vote.

Believe in Scotland proposes that pro-independence parties will seek a mandate from the Scottish people to begin the process of dissolving the Union, resulting in the country becoming an independent nation.

Fiona Matheson of Yes Orkney said:

“I think the plan is excellent. It heartens me to think at last someone has done the legwork on setting all of this out and that all the bases seem to be covered in a concise and clear way. It certainly gives me renewed optimism and having an election date to go for will galvanise folk to get into campaigning mode. There is no doubt that there is a lot of work to do, but this gives something for folk to aim for and I think that is key.”

The four-page proposal takes into account two potential General Election victory scenarios for the Yes side — a double majority or a single majority mandate.

Under the first scenario, pro-independence parties winning a majority of seats and votes would establish that independence is the settled will of the Scottish people. This, says Believe in Scotland, will allow the Scottish Government to begin the process of Scotland regaining independence, including the re-establishment of the Scottish Constitutional Convention.

A single-majority mandate, based on a majority of seats at Westminster, would also be a vote to begin the process of independence, but would include provision of a mandate for the Scotland Act to be amended to allow the Scottish Government to have the powers to hold a referendum on a new Scottish constitution, at a date of its choice.

You can download a copy of the Route to Independence plan here: