White supremacists and Remainers turn Edinburgh into city of protest
SCOTLAND’S capital erupted in protest yesterday over Brexit and the growing influence of the far-right around the world. Simultaneous protests were staged in solidarity with the European Union, and against a small band of white supremacists, who held their own demonstration in the city. Around 1,000 people marched on the Scottish Parliament to mark the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, the agreement which led to the creation of the EU, with many calling for Scottish independence to safeguard Scotland’s future within the community.
Demonstrators waved placards featuring slogans such as “Nous sommes Écossais, nous sommes Européens” (We are Scots, we are Europeans), “Scotland voted remain” and “Evil will succeed when good people do nothing”.
At the other side of the Royal Mile around 500 protesters faced off against around 30 demonstrators from the far-right National Front and a group known as White Brotherhood Scotland.
Anti-Nazi protestors waved banners including “Antifascista Siempre”, “White silence = white consent” and “Nazis are pure sh**e by the way”, and chanted at the fascists: “Follow your leader, shoot yourself like Adolf Hitler.”
Far-right activists goaded protesters with Nazi salutes and banners including the neo-Nazi slognan: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children”.
Police arrested 10 people at the protest. Police Scotland said three of the arrests related to religiously aggravated offences and the remainder were for minor public order offences.
Among the pro-EU demonstrators at Holyrood was Sir David Edward, a former judge at the Court of Justice of the European Communities.
He said: “It is an act of national madness. It’s an important event for Scotland and for the UK that we demonstrate that we are not all determined to go down this mad road of Brexit.”
Edward continued: “There is a place for Scotland, what is called the EEA/EFTA with Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, remarkably, and it would be a good fit, so I don’t exclude that as a possibility at all.”
However, Ross Greer, a member of the Scottish Greens whose votes Sturgeon needs to get her constitutional plans through Parliament, said his party will settle for nothing less than full EU membership.
“Our Green prospectus for independence will be for Scotland in Europe as a full EU member state and there will be no Green compromise on that,” he said.
SNP MP Tommy Sheppard said: “We’ve come here today to say no to the National Front and no to the fascists in our midst who try to take advantage of the current uncertain economic situation … people who peddle racist filth are not welcome in this city.”
Jean François-Poncet from France, chairman of the Young European Movement Edinburgh, said they may back independence if it is the only way to safeguard Scotland’s EU membership.
He said: “The truth is we have no opinion on independence, but when you see a Westminster government that has not really been elected and have won a Brexit referendum based on lies, then we know this government isn’t fit to be supported.”
François-Poncet said it is imperative that EU citizens get a vote in the next independence referendum. “If you start saying no to the European people, then you’re going to have to start saying no to all the English people here,” he said.
John Proctor, chairman of Labour Against Brexit, said he was angry that Brexit has been hijacked by nationalists to promote a second independence referendum.
“Today has been a cross-party, cross-solidarity group,” he said. “We’ve had Labour, Green, SNP and we’ve all said the same thing – we will fight Brexit – but where it comes to independence I will be saying not the time, not the place, we’re not ready, not now.”
Another march celebrating the 40th anniversary of a Sikh temple, the Guru Nanak Edinburgh Gurdwara, was cancelled amid safety fears.
Dharmveer Singh, 34, a volunteer at the Gurdwara, said: “The march got cancelled due to the recent events in London and obviously there is a march today as well uptown – I think it’s a Nazi march.
“So the police recommended, and the committee members took a decision here to just cancel it today for the safety of our families and children.”
Far-right activists goaded protesters with Nazi salutes and banners including the neo-Nazi slognan: ‘We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children’