Over the next two weeks I don’t have as much time for research & writing as I’d like, so I wanted to leave you all a bit of a challenge in my partial absence. This will also help us build our Northern Archives Library here on Skool. Details are as follows: 12 missions. Two weeks. Zero complacency. These tasks are designed to send you down purposeful rabbit holes, uncover hidden Scottish history, and help us build a community-sourced evidence library. RULES (short, strict, necessary) 1. Cite your sources. Screenshots, archive links, PDF page numbers, photographs, catalogue IDs — whatever you find, back it up. 2. Fact-check before posting. If a claim sounds spicy, verify it twice. If a source feels dodgy, treat it as suspect until proven otherwise. 3. Keep posts concise. What you found, why it matters, and where you found it. 4. Debate respectfully. We’re here to sharpen knowledge, not each other’s throats. 5. No conspiracy filler. Stick to evidence, not vibes. THE 12 MISSIONS 1. Follow the Bribes Find original lists, letters, or records naming who was paid during the 1707 Union negotiations and how much. 2. The Voices They Muted Locate any speeches, letters, or petitions from Scots who opposed the Union — and note where they vanished from the mainstream record. 3. The Last Parliament Dig up surviving documents from the last independent Scottish Parliament: motions, debates, attendance, anything. 4. The Censored Press Track Scottish printing presses, newspapers, or pamphlets that were shut down, restricted, or censored between 1680–1750. 5. Letters from the Colonies Find one Scottish voice in any colonial archive (Jamaica, India, Canada, Australia) and extract what they were doing there. 6. Cumberland’s Instructions Hunt for orders, letters, or first-hand accounts from the aftermath of Culloden. Compare “official” British claims with on-the-ground testimony. 7. The Not-Empty Glens Choose a Highland area and find hard evidence of its pre-Clearance population (rent rolls, kirk records, tenant lists, cattle counts).

People like to say “the nationalists are at it again,” as if caring about your own country were a fault to be explained away. But Scottish independence isn’t about grievance or grandeur. It’s about the simple right to call what’s ours ours — our voice, our history, our future. For centuries, Scotland’s story has been filed under someone else’s heading. The records are there — ledgers and letters, ship manifests and plantation accounts — marked “British West Indies” or “British Empire,” even when the names written in them were our own. Those signatures belonged to Scots who lived, worked, built, suffered and survived. Yet their story, like ours, was absorbed until Scotland itself became a sub-clause in someone else’s history. Independence, for many of us, isn’t rebellion. It’s restoration. It’s not about walking away from anyone; it’s about walking back toward ourselves. To reclaim the right to speak in our own voice, to write our own record, and to be answerable to the people who live here — not to a government that treats Scottish confidence as insolence. Pride in your own country shouldn’t be an insult. Ownership of your own story shouldn’t need defending. Independence, in the end, is not about separation — it’s about self-respect.

1. “If Scotland were already independent, what’s one policy or law you’d keep exactly as it is — and one you’d scrap on day one?” 2. “How do you think the idea of sovereignty has changed since 2014? Has social media helped or harmed Scotland’s political awareness?” 3. “If we measured independence not in votes but in confidence, where do you think we are right now: 30%, 60%, or higher?” 4. “What does ‘the Union’ actually give Scotland that we couldn’t replicate ourselves?” 5. “Is independence about economics, democracy, or identity, and which one should be leading the argument?” Let’s open this up for some real conversation, not slogans, not party lines, just honest thought. These questions aren’t about convincing anyone, they’re about exploring what independence actually means in 2025. Where are we as a nation, what have we learned since 2014, and what would we do differently if the choice were ours today? What would YOU do differently?

We keep saying the people are sovereign… but land is power, and Scotland’s still one of the most land-unequal countries in Europe. 🏡 Just a few facts: - Fewer than 500 people own half of all private land in Scotland. - We have a housing shortage, but acres of empty, underused estates. - Around 11% of all land is owned by just 18 estates. - There are over 42,000 long-term empty homes and 11,000 hectares of derelict urban land, much of it in places crying out for regeneration. - Many landowners receive millions in public subsidies, even when their estates contribute little to local economies or lie unused. - In cities like Glasgow and Dundee, large pockets of land are classified as “vacant or derelict” for more than 20 years, while councils struggle to find space for social housing. Meanwhile… communities that have used the Scottish Land Fund (or community buyouts) have built homes, created jobs, restored ecosystems, and proven that local people know best. It’s already happening: Eigg, Gigha, Knoydart, South Uist, Langholm - all thriving because the people took charge. The Scottish Land Fund exists to help communities do the same - and there’s millions available for buyouts, housing, and regeneration. So it begs the question… 👉 If sovereignty really lies with the people - what are we waiting for? 👉 Should land reform be an extra step to support the independence movement - real, physical sovereignty over the land we live on? 👉 What would your community do if it could own even a fraction of the land around it? Drop your thoughts, and if you know of land reform projects, share links, videos, or success stories in the comments. Let’s make this thread about taking back what’s ours, responsibly, locally, and for everyone’s future. (Photo of the Isle of Eigg)

Poll: “Should the next UK General Election be treated as a plebiscite on independence?” (Yes / No / Undecided) Answer why in the comments