CAMPAIGNERS formed a human chain around the Scottish Parliament to protect “democratic rights” in the wake of Brexit.
Hundreds of protesters – many carrying pro-independence flags and banners – gathered outside Holyrood to protest against a Westminster “power grab”.
The event was organised by the Hands Off Our Parliament group, which has accused the Conservative government of undermining devolution.
Tom Gordon: SNP stands to benefit long-term from Brexit Bill fallout
It comes just days after the Scottish Government voted to push ahead with its own Brexit legislation amid an ongoing row over powers.
Scottish ministers have accused Westminster of attempting to seize control of areas that should be devolved to Scotland after the UK leaves the EU.
Tom Gordon: SNP stands to benefit long-term from Brexit Bill fallout
David Patrick, 50, a maths tutor and musician from Edinburgh, said Brexit was being used as a cover for re-writing the devolution settlement.
He said: “You have a government faced with a secessionist movement that is looking to do everything possible to neuter it.
“As someone who believes in independence and sees the devolution settlement as a stepping stone towards it, any act against that the settlement is extremely disturbing.”
Organisers said they were moved to take action to “protect the voice of Scotland through the Scottish Parliament".
As well as the human chain, which stretched around the entirety of the parliament building, dozens of “Yes bikers” organised a noisy drive past.
Frequent chants of “Where’s your cameras, BBC?” could be heard among the crowds, including from some who said they didn’t watch the BBC on principle.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel