Indyref march through Glasgow after Sturgeon's 'not going away' vow

Independence supporters have marched through Glasgow after Nicola Sturgeon insisted the Supreme Court ruling on indyref2 would galvanise the movement.

The All Under One Banner (AUOB) march made its way from Glasgow Green to BBC Scotland’s HQ at Pacific Quay.

It followed a series of rallies around the country after Wednesday’s ruling that an independence referendum cannot go ahead without UK government consent.

The FM plans to use the next general election as a de facto referendum.

The Conservatives and Labour have rejected that idea, arguing that general elections are fought on a range of issues and not just the constitution.

All Under One Banner national committee member Patrick McCarthy said people were marching “to demand the right to democracy”.

He added: “We believe that the decision of the Supreme Court was wrong and that the people of Scotland have the right to demand a referendum after the mandates we’ve had in the past.

“Going forward, eventually we believe that the Tories will give in.”

Ms Sturgeon has claimed that the independence campaign has been “strengthened” by the Supreme Court judgement, while her political rivals insist the ruling should mean issues like the NHS and the cost of living crisis must now be her priority.

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s march, Ms Sturgeon said: “Wednesday’s judgment from the Supreme Court has galvanised the Yes movement right across Scotland.

“Thousands of people took to the streets – in freezing Scottish winter weather – to demonstrate their support for Scottish democracy.”

She added: “The inconvenient truth for Westminster is that, much as they would prefer otherwise, the Scottish independence movement is not going away.

“Indeed, it is growing. It is strengthening. And it is winning. Because it is now as much a democracy movement as an independence movement.”

Scottish Conservative constitution spokesman Donald Cameron said people “will be dismayed that Nicola Sturgeon is doubling down on the nationalists’ obsession, rather than getting back to the day job and tackling the urgent concerns of most Scots”.

He added: “The inconvenient truth for her is that the Scottish public don’t want independence – and have already rejected it.

“They certainly don’t want another divisive referendum that the court has ruled out, when the SNP government should be focused on helping them through a global cost of living crisis.

“Nicola Sturgeon is stuck in a nationalist echo chamber, pandering to the minority and oblivious to the concerns of the outside world.”

The SNP won 45% of the votes in Scotland at the last general election in 2019 while winning 48 of the 59 seats.

Recent opinion polls have suggested that the country is essentially split down the middle on the independence question, but with a very narrow majority in favour of staying in the UK.