SNP members are set to have their say on the independence papers after the party’s ruling body backed holding a national assembly this summer.
The proposal put forward by the party’s policy development convener Toni Giugliano, was supported at a meeting of the SNP NEC last week.
He had previously written to SNP depute leader Keith Brown calling for the wider party to be given a chance to scrutinise the prospectus on independence, and for members to be given the opportunity to have their say.
It has not yet been confirmed when the assembly will happen, but Giugliano said it was vital to now “get the ball rolling” on the first meeting.
He said: “It’s about ensuring the party’s voice is heard throughout the route to independence process.
“We have got civil servants working on a refreshed prospectus, which is something I have welcomed – however, independence is a political proposition and therefore the party needs to also have its voice heard.
“That means ensuring that we are able to scrutinise, we are able to form opinion, we are able to form policy and that we are able to also scrutinise office bearers as well.
“It’s incumbent on every party to make sure that internal party governance is sound, internal democracy matters, internal democracy is important, but that is even more important if you are a party of governance.
“You need to take the party with you and you need to ensure that party policy is being listened to and heard.”
Giugliano said he had concerns that the party’s policy making processes have been “weakened” in recent years, pointing out only one SNP conference has been scheduled for this year.
The SNP’s first in-person conference since 2019 will take place in Aberdeen in October.
In 2020, the spring event was delayed to June due to the pandemic, before the party decided to call it off completely. The SNP then held its annual conference online in November.
Last year the autumn conference in September also took place virtually and the annual conference in November 2021 was also an online event.
Giugliano added: “I want to make sure we strengthen policy making within the party, which is why I have called for this national assembly to take place and I am now in discussions with HQ to make sure it takes place in some shape or form.”
The Scottish Government published its first “scene setter” document on independence earlier this month.
The Independence in the Modern World: Wealthier, Happier, Fairer: Why Not Scotland? paper compared 10 countries of a similar size to Scotland as examples of what could happen after an independence vote.
It said the “comparator” countries of Ireland, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Iceland, Sweden, Austria, Belgium and Finland are all wealthier than the UK.
Launching the paper, the First Minister said indyref2 would be held “with or without” a Section 30 order being granted by Westminster.
She is due to give an update to Holyrood on Tuesday to set out the Scottish Government’s “route map” to a second referendum.
Giugliano also said he had suggested a series of national assemblies should be held to respond to the different independence papers, which are expected to cover issues such as the currency the Border and EU membership.
He added: “If we do have one this summer, it doesn’t mean to say there shouldn’t be more next year.
“But we need to get the ball rolling with the first national assembly on the back of the first papers that have been published.
“There’s policy but there is also political direction and there is strategy.
“There is the way in which we campaign, there is a lot to think about.
“The Scottish Government papers are only one aspect of what is going to be needed.
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“That is the prospectus but there is a whole host of thinking to be done around how we translate some of those messages in those papers for activists on the doorsteps, how we translate some of those messages on a local level.
“There is a lot of thinking to be done on the back of those papers and the national assemblies are a good place to do that.”
The SNP previously said it has “well-established processes” for its policy development and it would be key that the prospectus allows the movement to discuss the “immense opportunities of independence with the country as a whole”.
An SNP spokesperson said: “SNP NEC wholeheartedly welcomed Scottish Government work on independence including the recent paper and discussed campaign planning and continued independence focused work.”
