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Rallies and Vigils to Commemorate Brexit and Demand a Second Referendum in Scotland

© AFP 2023 / Andy Buchanan Pro-Scottish Independence supporters with Scottish Saltire flag masks pose for a picture at a rally in George Square in Glasgow, Scotland on July 30, 2016 to call for Scottish independence from the UK.
Pro-Scottish Independence supporters with Scottish Saltire flag masks pose for a picture at a rally in George Square in Glasgow, Scotland on July 30, 2016 to call for Scottish independence from the UK.  - Sputnik International
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63% of Scots voted to remain part of the EU and Britain's impending departure from the economic block is now being used as by pro-independence campaigners as a justification to call a second referendum in 2020.

Rallies and vigils are being held across Scotland to mark Britain's exit from the EU as well as to renew calls for Scottish independence. In Aberdeen approximately 50 pro-EU demonstrators gathered outside of Marischal College holding banners which read "Leave a Light on For Scotland" and "Scotland's Right to Choose".

​Large crowds of people gathered outside of the Scottish parliament in Edinbrugh singing pro-independence songs and hymns, with numerous EU and Scottish flags being carried, at 4:45pm. Men and women took turns singing and playing music, while bag pipes played around the corner next to a stage were speakers are due to address the crowds.

Jerry from Independence Live.Net explained during a livestream broadcast of the event that the vigil had the feel of a “pretty free form grass roots event”.

Joanna Cherry and Tommy Sheppard, both Scottish National Party MPs, are among those due to speak at the rally. Meanwhile cities including Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee and Stirling are expected to see candlelit vigils and farewell marchs with EU flags to commemorate Brexit, according to the BBC.

​Pro-Independence campaigners have used the result of the UK-wide EU referendum to push for a second Scottish independence vote. Although 51.9% of Brits voted to leave the EU, 63% of Scots voted to remain.

​Long-time pro-independence campaigner Tommy Sheridan released a video on Twitter arguing that the fact that the SNP have won four general elections since the last referendum means there is now a "mandate" for a second independence referendum to be held this year.

​Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, told a gathering of SNP activists in Edinburgh on 31 January that she will do everything she can to ensure a second referendum is held in 2020. “Brexit has put Scotland on the wrong road”, she said adding that the,"further down that road we go, the longer it will take and the harder it will be to get back on the right one".

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