At the first meetings of both the editorial committee of the Scottish Left Review magazine and the project board of the Jimmy Reid Foundation since the 12 December 2019 general election, the following motion was unanimously passed:
We assert our belief in the right of the people of Scotland to determine their own future and therefore, whilst maintaining our stance of not taking a position on the specific question of independence for Scotland, that is, being pro- or anti-independence, we support the right of the people of Scotland to determine that future through a constitutional referendum.
This provides the basis for Scottish Left Review and the Jimmy Reid Foundation to provide much needed balanced and informed materials in the on-going constitutional debate. The first in an array of such activities will be the hosting on a fringe event at the 2020 annual congress of the Scottish Trades Union Congress in Perth on Tuesday 21 April. The second will be the publication of an educational pamphlet by Professor James Mitchell of the University of Edinburgh assessing each of the constitutional options for Scotland.
Editor of Scottish Left Review and director of the Jimmy Reid Foundation, Professor Gregor Gall, commented:
Jimmy Reid’s last political project was the creation of the Scottish Left Review. Its founding aim is to provide a forum for balanced and productive debate on the left about developing a progressive, left agenda. By passing this motion, the Scottish Left Review and the Jimmy Reid Foundation have taken the step to support the democratic right to a referendum without prejudging which option in the referendum people should support. We believe this is very much in the spirit of what Jimmy Reid would have intended.
Note: The Scottish Left Review was established by Jimmy Reid in 2000 and the Scottish Left Review set up the Jimmy Reid Foundation in 2011 following the death of Jimmy Reid in 2010. Scottish Left Review magazine is a sister organisation to the Jimmy Reid Foundation and vice-versa.