About this site

This site exists to answer, honestly and with sources, the questions people ask about Scottish independence. We are unashamedly in favour of Scotland running its own affairs.

What we won't do is tell you what an independent Scotland must look like. Whether Scotland rejoins the EU or joins EFTA, stays in NATO or leaves, which currency arrangement it adopts — these are decisions for the people of Scotland to make once the ability to decide has been regained. Our job is simpler: to show that the questions have answers, and that a country of Scotland's size and wealth is entirely capable of standing on its own within the international community.

One distinction matters enough to state plainly: independence is not a vote for any party. Where these pages mention the current Scottish Government's policies, they appear as facts to report, not positions we endorse. An independent Scotland will have the full range of political parties competing for your vote — including ones that don't exist yet — and a politics finally freed from the constitutional question that currently swallows every other debate. The nationalist/unionist divide isn't a permanent feature of Scottish life; it's a symptom of the question being unresolved. Resolve it, and Scotland gets to argue about the things every normal country argues about instead.

This site draws inspiration from the Wee Blue Book published before the 2014 referendum, though the world has moved on and everything here has been researched afresh.

There are no comments here, deliberately. But if you spot an error of fact, we want to know — every page cites its sources so you can check our working. Email corrections@independent.scot with the page, the claim you dispute, and ideally a source. If you're right, we'll fix it and say so.

Who publishes this

Published and edited by Gavin Bain.