SCOTS MUST AVOID PETITIONING WESTMINSTER AT ALL COSTS

Jamie Marr (The Earl of Marr) has recently launched a referendum bill from the House of Lords at Westminster. Unfortunately petitioning Westminster in any shape or form is doomed to failure and is a complete waste of time. We had a 2m petition for home rule in the 50's which was completely ignored.

We must learn the lessons of history and concentrate all practical efforts on the Scottish Parliament. That is where Scottish sovereignty now lies.

Marr is basically still a Brit in terms of his attitudes (when he was challenged at the Convention he responded about Westminster 'It's still our Parliament'). His new found support for independence combined with his reliance on the Queen as a peer in the House of Lords mean his ambitions are limited to taking Scottish sovereignty back to the union of crowns.

Yet the Union of Crowns was what began the British union and where Scotland's problems began. Independence campaigners are working together within the independence convention and independence first and we generally rightly believethat arguments about the EU and republicanism are largely irrelevant until we actually acheive independence.

However Marr feels forced to petition Westmister because of his loyalty to the UK queen. That may be the most logical route for him but his personal loyalty to the monarch is not shared by most Scottish independence supporters.

Sovereignty in Scotland lies with the people of Scotland and therefore logically with our new parliament. Only this parliament can legitimately decide to move forwards towards independence.

Westmister is the political enemy of Scotland and if we attempt to influence policy there we will never succeed. Scotland's representatives are hopelessly outnumbered and most of them have no interest in their own country anyway.

Our new parliament may not be perfect but at least it is a genuine reflection of our votes. All our future efforts must be primarily targetted towards this if we are to have a decent chance of success.