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30 Jul, 2016 15:15

Scots rally for independence in Glasgow after Brexit vote

Scots rally for independence in Glasgow after Brexit vote

A pro-independence march has seen several thousand people gather in Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, on Saturday, as calls to cut ties with the UK intensify after it voted to leave the EU following the Brexit vote.

The demonstrators gathered at the Botanic Gardens and marched all the way to George Square where a rally was held.

They carried Scottish flags, banners reading “Yes” (to independence from the UK) as well as flags of the Spanish region of Catalonia, which is now also fighting to break ties with Madrid.

Another banner described the UK after the Brexit vote as “unfettered, undemocratic, uncivilized, [and] unhinged.”

According to the police, between 2,500 and 3,000 people took part in the march in Glasgow.

The organizers of the rally from the All Under One Banner group have described it as “a vibrant and creative people powered event.”

“All that any individual must do is simply turn up and walk the route with everyone, with any involvement over and above that up to each alone,” they wrote on its website as they invited people to come.

The group calmed that it will continue organizing marches until Scotland is finally “free.”

Meanwhile, a fresh YouGov poll found there had been no real shift in opinion towards Scottish independence, following Britain’s decision to quit the EU.

Fifty-three percent of respondents said that they would vote for Scotland to remain in the UK and 47 percent replied that they would vote for independence.

“One month after the UK’s shock decision to leave the EU, the latest YouGov research in Scotland shows no real shift towards independence,” YouGov representative Matthew Smith said, as cited by the Guardian.

“However, a lot could still change on this front in the coming years. Article 50 has not yet been triggered and once details of the Brexit deal emerge it may alter the context of the independence debate,” he added.

Scotland held an independence referendum back in 2014, with 55.3 percent speaking out in favor of staying in the UK.

READ MORE: Scottish fishermen support Brexit, shun Sturgeon’s call for independence

Earlier this week, Scottish First Minister and the head of the Scottish National Party, Nicola Sturgeon, said that independence may bring Scotland more stability in the wake of UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.

“The UK that we voted to stay part of in 2014 – a UK within the EU – is fundamentally changing. The outlook for the UK is uncertainty, upheaval and unpredictability,” he said.

READ MORE: Sturgeon blames austerity for Brexit vote, repeats threats of 2nd Scottish independence referendum

“In these circumstances, it may well be that the option that offers us the greatest certainty, stability and the maximum control over our destiny, is that of independence,” Sturgeon added.

Stewart Kerr Brown, a spokesperson for the Yes West Lothian pro-independence group, told RT that Brexit has really brought the Scottish independence movement back to life.

Saturday’s Glasgow march “is basically happening due to recent events like the Brexit vote… Most of the marchers feel there’s been a change of circumstances in the UK. So they want the world and the rest of the UK to know that they feel that independence is back on the table,” he said.

“In 2014, there were promises made to the Scottish people. One of them being that the only way to stay in the EU was to vote ‘No.’ And, obviously, that has changed now. The majority of the Scottish population voted to stay in Europe. I feel that that’s a material changing circumstance,” Kerr Brown added.

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