By Gregor Boyd
After the report from the supreme court ruled that Scotland cannot hold a referendum without Westminster’s approval. Several rallies were held throughout various parts of Scotland including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Stirling.
The Stirling demo was small and didn’t have any official speakers from party affiliations despite purportedly being contacted. The demo’s low turnout was put down to the short notice of it.
One speaker gave a small speech before proceeding to pull out a guitar and play notable Scottish songs to get a singsong going. After offering up the platform for individuals to voice their consensus, one woman came up to speak, some technical difficulties arose which prevented a PA from being used so the women chose to speak without and encouraged unity.
The main theme of the demo was about uniting under a banner of independence from all party lines. The non-affiliated speaker took several potshots at SNP leadership which received some backlash from people within the crowd and the event fizzled out shortly after.
The demonstration went on with no major issues save for a couple of drive-by verbal heckles of God save the King.
Shortly after the ruling was returned, Nicola Sturgeon posted two tweets in response to the ruling stating that the UK supreme court doesn’t make law but only interprets it. As well as pointing out that a law that doesn’t allow Scotland to choose their own future without Westminster’s consent exposes as myth any notion of the UK as a voluntary partnership and makes the case for Independence.
She also noted that Scottish democracy will not be denied.
The event in Edinburgh was livestreamed online and featured several different speakers featuring Colin Fox of the SSP.
Large numbers turned out in Glasgow with various speakers and singers addressing a sea of saltire flags.
Over in Edinburgh, Nicola Sturgeon addressed a crowd of supporters outside of Holyrood and stated that “The UK is not a voluntary partnership of nations”.
It has been 8 years since Scotland voted to remain in the United Kingdom with a 55% vote returning No to the question of Scotland becoming independent.