Thousands endorse ‘Yes to Scotland’

A œYes to Scotland” rally has been held in the capital city of Edinburg, bringing thousands of blue and white Scottish flags onto the streets demanding independence from the United Kingdom, media reports said.

Pro-independence campaigners from across Scotland began their March on Saturday through Edinburg™s High Street onto the city™s Calton Hill with the Scottish first minister telling thousands of marchers that œthere is a natural majority for Scottish independence”, British media reported.

The pro-independence campaign rally was organized by a number of groups including œYes to Scotland” campaign, which said the rally drew some 30-thousands people onto the streets.

“There is now in this country a natural majority for a Yes vote. The people want a parliament that makes decisions for the people of Scotland”, said first minister Alex Salmond.

“A Yes vote next September will not be a victory for the SNP, or the Yes campaign, or even the huge coalition of interests and enthusiasm gathered here today.

“It will be the people’s victory. ‘Yes’ will be act of self-confidence and self-assertion which will mean that decisions about what happens in Scotland are always taken by the people who live and work here – not by a remote Westminster system.

“A Yes vote is for self-government, not remote government – good government with independence, not bad government from Westminster”, Salmond noted.

The Yes campaign rally was held to mark the beginning of a year of pro-independence campaigning until the independence referendum on September 18, 2014.

Alex Salmon addressed some thorny issues including the Royal Mail privatization and the unpopular bedroom tax, that he said an independent Scotland will not implement them.

Talking about nuclear disarmament, the head of the Scottish National Party noted œWe will put bairns before bombs”.

“We have now in 362 days’ time the opportunity of a lifetime. The forces against us thrive on doubt but they can be dispelled”, he added.

The Yes Scotland chief executive, Blair Jenkins, also addressed the rally on Calton Hill.

“I am asked a lot of questions as I take our message around the country. One question I am often asked is: What will we lose?

“Well, we would lose nuclear weapons, the bedroom tax, Tory governments we have never voted for, and what’s not to love about that? We are the lucky generation that gets to vote for independence and vote for self-determination for our country”, said Blair Jenkins.

Speaking about opinion polls which suggest Scots would not vote for independence, Dennis Canavan, the chairman of the Yes Scotland Advisory Board, said that there is no worry about such polls.

“This campaign is more like a marathon rather than a short sprint. And having run a few marathons in my time, I know that the runner who is ahead at the halfway stage is not necessarily the winner of the race. We have the people with the stamina, guts and determination to win this campaign – and win it we shall.”

MOL/HE