Hundreds, if not thousands, of pro-independence activists gathered on George Square in the Scottish city of Glasgow carrying Saltire flags and “Yes” banners on Saturday. “End London rule,” said one of the banners.
Organizers of the demonstration wanted to “make a clear statement that our journey to full independence for our nation continues,” the Daily Record reported.
"It's now not a question of if we become independent, it's when we become independent,” rally organizer and Solidarity co-convener Tommy Sheridan said.
"I think the mandate for the next referendum should be sought next year at the Scottish Parliament elections,” he added.
The next referendum should be organized “when the time is right, when Nicola [Sturgeon] says so, and when I think that there's a good chance that we will win it,” Robert Boyd, 47, another activist told the Daily Record.
They may have been defeated in last year's independence referendum, but they haven’t fallen silent. In the lead up to the independence referendum in Scotland in September 2014, tens of thousands of activists attended ‘YES’ rallies - and those people have not dissolved into thin air. One year on they are making a statement by setting up a rally in Scotland’s largest city to draw attention to their cause.
The independence referendum in Scotland last year had an unprecedented election turnout of 84.6 percent of voters, serving strong proof of how serious the Scots feel about their land and its future, no matter whether they said yes or no.
The fact is that adherents of independence lost with 44.7 percent against 55.3 percent of those who voted in favor of remaining a part of the UK.
Today, one year from the #indyref, calls for a new referendum are rising. The leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) Nicola Sturgeon made a statement, saying the “UK is living on borrowed time.”
“If you continue to ignore Scotland’s voice, if you continue to disrespect the choice the people across this country made in May (general elections in the UK), more and more people will conclude that Westminster simply cannot deliver for Scotland,” she said.
Support for independence has been growing with the SNP recording a landslide victory in the general election earlier this year, when the nationalists won 56 seats in parliament.
Supporters on social media have got behind the hashtag “Still Yes,” with many predicting a very different outcome if a referendum was held today.
People are generally disenchanted with the promises Westminster made to keep the UK together, as RT's Harry Fear found out on the streets of Glasgow.
A year ago three leaders from Westminster’s three major parties urged Scots to vote ‘no’ in exchange for a “faster, safer and better change.”
But a year on the actual architect of this, former Labor leader Gordon Brown, a Scot himself, said Westminster has fallen short of fulfilling this promise.
A new poll finds less than 10 percent think the promise has been delivered completely.
One of the factors for calls for independence has been the rejection of the austerity regime pushed by the Conservatives. Scotland has been left without the administrative power to combat austerity that impairs people’s everyday life.
All this pushes Scottish society to radical transformation, which is independence. With the frustration growing over undelivered promises made by London, another independence referendum could well be looming.