SNP leader and First Minister Humza Yousaf has revealed his party would introduce a written constitution for Scotland if it secures independence.
The proposed document, setting out the rights of citizens, would help a newly independent Scotland take on the challenges of the future, Yousaf said.
Speaking ahead of the launch of the latest Building a New Scotland prospectus paper, the First Minister said the drafting of a new constitution would enable people in Scotland to shape the new country.
He said the constitution would include recognition of the NHS in Scotland, giving people the right to access a system of healthcare free at the point of need.
Under the proposal, the document would also provide stronger protections for human rights and equality, including upholding and fulfilling the right to an adequate standard of living as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It would also formally ban nuclear weapons being stored on the Clyde and guarantee workers the right to take industrial action.
This week’s prospectus paper will be the fourth paper in the Building a New Scotland series, and sets out more details about the constitution proposal and the arguments to support one.
Yousaf said: “Our proposals would provide an opportunity for people in Scotland to shape the newly independent country and create a permanent, modern, written constitution to describe the type of country
Scotland would be and how it would be governed.
“Successive UK governments have taken Scotland in the wrong direction and with independence we would radically shift where power lies and put it back in the hands of the people who live in Scotland.
“The constitution would set out how democracy, rights and equality would be at the heart of everything we do as an independent nation.
“It will see the introduction of a constitutional right to healthcare available at the point of need, a right to an adequate standard of living as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and protection for workers to take industrial action.
“And, what we will not see under these proposals, are nuclear weapons on the Clyde. This proposed constitution would ban nuclear weapons from an independent Scotland.
“With rights in Scotland under threat as never before, because of the actions of the UK Government, and the Scottish Parliament being undermined, independence has never been more urgent or essential.”
