THOUSANDS will gather outside the Scottish Parliament on “Brexit Day” – a week today – in protest against Scotland being dragged from the EU and to call for a second independence referendum.
More than a dozen Edinburgh-based groups are urging Remain voters and Yes-supporting Scots to join them at the Missing EU Already rally outside Holyrood next Friday.
Held by Edinburgh Yes Hub, the rally is set to take place from 5pm to 7.30pm, while a later candlelit vigil run by Edinburgh4Europe will also be held outside the Parliament between 10pm to 11.30pm.
Organiser Mike Blackshaw said: “We decided to call this demonstration because Scots must show our resolute opposition to this theft of our European identity. Scotland benefits from EU membership and has a lot to give back.”
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Speakers at the rally include Joanna Cherry MP, Tommy Sheppard MP and New Scot artist and activist Ellen Hofer.
The candlelit vigil will feature a speech by Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater, a commemorative light show and an “Au Revoir” farewell march with EU flags.
Joanna Cherry said: “At the 2016 EU referendum, and at every election thereafter, the people of Scotland have voted to remain in the EU.
“On January 31, as the British Government drags us out of the EU against our will, it’s important that we come together in Scotland’s capital city to show Europe and the world our desire to be an equal member of the EU family of nations.”
Lesley Riddoch, who will be compering the rally, said: “A large turnout will represent Scots and millions of Remain voters across the UK in a much-needed riposte to the tasteless triumphalism likely to happen as Boris Johnson celebrates Brexit. The SNP won a clear mandate for a second independence referendum to let Remain-voting Scotland choose its own future. Scottish campaigners will not go away until that mandate is fulfilled.”
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