Claim of Right for Scotland
1989 declaration asserting the right of the Scottish people to determine their form of government.
The right-to-decide motion MSPs carried 84 to 18 on 22 September 2026, with all 17 Scottish Labour members in FAVOUR, echoed a principle Labour first signed up to in the 1989 Claim of Right.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Does backing Scotland's right to decide commit Labour to a referendum?
Timeline for Claim of Right for Scotland
Mentioned in: Marra's MSPs vote for right to decide
UK Local Elections 2026Background
The Claim of Right for Scotland is a statement of principle drawn up by the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly in 1988. It was signed on 30 March 1989 at the General Assembly Hall in Edinburgh, at the opening meeting of the Scottish Constitutional Convention, by 58 of Scotland's 72 MPs. The Conservatives and the SNP stayed away.
Its key line acknowledges "the sovereign right of the Scottish people" to choose the form of government that best suits their needs. MSPs endorsed it again in 2012, and The House of Commons debated it in 2018.
The document carries political weight but no legal force. Endorsing it obliges no party to hold a referendum, which is why the 2026 right-to-decide vote at Holyrood left the question of a second independence poll open.
The 1989 principle wins fresh votes
The Claim's central idea, that Scots hold the sovereign right to choose how they are governed, sat behind John Swinney's motion on 22 September 2026. Scottish Labour, a signatory in 1989, backed it under its new leader Michael Marra once child-poverty wording had been added, and it passed 84 to 18.
That support restates a position Labour took 37 years earlier rather than adopting a new one. It does not turn the Claim into a mandate for a referendum. The declaration has no legal force, and a lawful vote on independence would still require a Section 30 order from Westminster, which Andy Burnham said in July 2026 he would not grant.
What is the Claim of Right for Scotland?
Who signed the Claim of Right in 1989?
Does the Claim of Right mean Scotland can hold an independence referendum?
