Young Scots for Independence

The Young Scots for Independence (YSI) formally known as the SNP Youth is the official youth wing of the Scottish National Party (SNP) representing the views of SNP members aged between 16 and 30.

Young Scots for Independence
ChairpersonCailyn McMahon
Vice-ChairpersonCharlotte Armitage
National SecretaryEmma Hendrie
HeadquartersGordon Lamb House
3 Jackson's Entry
Edinburgh
EH8 8PJ
IdeologyScottish independence
Scottish nationalism
Social democracy
Mother partyScottish National Party
International affiliationEuropean Free Alliance Youth
Websiteysi.scot

The YSI maintains autonomy from the SNP and as such is entitled to formulate its own policies and run its own campaigns.

Notable policies include; Raising the age of military recruitment to 18, Sexual Consent Education, LGBTQI+ Inclusive Education and more recently the implementation of a school leavers toolkit.

The YSI is represented on the SNP National Executive Committee by the National Convener and is entitled to send delegates to party conferences as well as nominate members for internal positions within the party.

Objectives

The organisation has 4 main aims that are set out in its constitution, these are:

(a) Scottish independence;

(b) the furtherance of all Scottish interests;

(c) to promote, co-operate and assist the Scottish National Party in its endeavours to realise independence for Scotland and the furtherance of Scottish interests; and

(d) to promote the political representation and interests of young people in Scotland.

History

1970s – present

The organisation was set up in the 1970s to campaign for Scottish Independence under the name of the Young Scottish Nationalists (YSN) before changing its name in 1996 to the Young Scots for Independence. For a period it was also known as the SNP Youth.

During the 2014 Independence Referendum Campaign the organisation took a short hiatus during the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum campaign working on projects such as Generation Yes. It subsequently relaunched and implemented significant reorganisation in 2015.

Many prominent members of the SNP have been involved with the YSI, including the current party leader and First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills John Swinney and Derek Mackay, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, the Economy and Fair work.

Recent History

When the SNP debated NATO membership in 2012, the YSI publicly came out in opposition to supporting NATO on the basis of opposition to Nuclear weapons. Their convener at the time, David Linden, was widely quoted in the press as saying: "The party`s youth wing has a strong and proud history of consistently campaigning against nuclear weapons. The leadership has taken a clear decision to finally bring this policy before the conference in October. Sadly we cannot - and will not - support them on this particular issue." [1]

In 2017, the YSI took forward a resolution to the SNP's Spring Conference supporting the 'Time for Inclusive Education' (Tie) campaign.[2] The motion was passed by SNP members overwhelmingly. [3] Following on from the successful passing of the motion in 2018 John Swinney the Cabinet Secretary for Education and lifelong learning announced that Scotland will become the first country in the world to embed the teaching of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex rights in the school curriculum..[4]

Regional Associations of the YSI

To ensure members from across Scotland can play an active part in the organisation the YSI has a regional level sharing the same boundaries of the Scottish Parliament regions for the election of 56 list MSP's. These are:

Regional Associations are governed by the constitution of the organisation, the Scottish National Party and the organisations ‘Regional Association Rules’ and are organised by a Regional Executive Committee elected by the members of the respective regions.

References
  1. "SNP youth wing attacks Nato U-turn as 'wavering in opposition to nuclear'". STV News. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  2. "'End the bigotry': SNP backs 'Time for Inclusive Education' campaign for LGBT teaching". CommonSpace. 13 March 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  3. "Which party has just backed inclusive education?". PinkNews - Gay news, reviews and comment from the world's most read lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans news service. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  4. correspondent, Libby Brooks Scotland (9 November 2018). "Scotland to embed LGBTI teaching across curriculum". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
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