SNP PRESIDENT Michael Russell is to highlight a “severe threat to democracy” in Scotland in a prestigious lecture celebrating a famous political reformer.
The former Scottish Government minister will deliver the Thomas Muir Lecture at Glasgow University next week, named after the 18th century radical martyr known as “the father of Scottish democracy”, who championed freedom of speech and voting rights for all.
With the title ‘”It shall ultimately prevail”: pursuing the "good cause” of democratic consent’, the lecture will examine the link between democratic consent and campaigns for independence in a variety of places, including Scotland.
Russell, who is now an honorary professor in the college of arts and humanities at Glasgow University, will then ask if Westminster's refusal to outline a clear route to constitutional change in Scotland is creating circumstances in which democratic consent may be put at risk.
He said: “Thomas Muir was a courageous and determined advocate of democracy but the threats to democracy did not disappear with the establishment of a universal franchise.
“They still exist and one of the most severe in terms of securing the democratic consent of the governed in Scotland is the refusal of the UK political system to agree the way in which public opinion on constitutional change can be tested and can prevail if it is in the majority.
“That refusal is of course not unique to the UK with the same phenomenon being found in other places and it needs a resolution.”
The lecture was established by the University of Glasgow in order to "highlight traditions of democratic thought in Scotland as they link with the wider world”.
Muir was a former University of Glasgow student and his reform activities led to his trail for sedition and exile to Australia.
He escaped to America and revolutionary France where he died in 1799 at the age of 33.
Russell's lecture will be held at the University of Glasgow on Thursday, November 2.
Dr Ronnie Young, one of the organisers of the lecture series, said: “We’re honoured to have Michael deliver this year’s Muir lecture.
“As a prominent political figure, his insights into issues surrounding democratic consent will be of great value, particularly as they come at a time when democracy itself often appears embattled.”
