Indy campaigners bid to hold parade in city

PRO-INDEPENDENCE campaigners are planning to resume marching again when Scotland moves into the final phase of plans to ease coronavirus lockdown restrictions.

The All Under One Banner group said it will announce details of a parade in Glasgow on the same day First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announces Scotland is moving into phase four of the route map.

The organisation is also planning to hold a “physically distanced rally” in Edinburgh on Monday July 20.

The lockdown imposed as a result of Covid-19 has left many protesters unable to stage demonstrations, with restrictions imposed on mass gatherings.

As it stands, people are limited to groups of 15 from a maximum of five households when they are meeting outdoors. But phase four of the easing of lockdown should allow for further relaxations on outdoor gatherings.

This will be achieved when coronavirus is “no longer considered a significant threat to public health”, Scottish Government documents state, with the disease remaining “suppressed to very low levels”.

Before lockdown – imposed UK-wide on March 23 – thousands of Scots took part in marches and rallies in towns and cities across the country organised by All Under One Banner. With some restrictions now being eased, the group unveiled details of its future plans to supporters on social media.

It tweeted: “The same day @ScotGovFM announces Phase 4 we will call a date for a March & Rally at Glasgow. Independence is an Emergency.”

In another post the group pledged: “Soon we will March for Independence #AUOB at Glasgow. 4 weeks after Phase 4 is announced there will be #AUOBGlasgow.”

Organisers also said a rally in the capital on July 20 will show how “adaptable” campaigners are to the requirements for social distancing.

It came as Sturgeon accused Boris Johnson’s Government of launching a “full-scale assault on devolution” over plans for Westminster to regulate state subsidies after Brexit.

Scotland’s First Minister warned if decision-making powers over state aid were reserved to Westminster it would be a “blatant move to erode the powers of the Scottish Parliament”.

But Downing Street said it has always considered the regulation of state aid to be a reserved matter for Westminster.