Thousands of Scots demonstrated in the capital, Edinburgh, on Saturday to reiterate their demands for independence from the United Kingdom.
The march began near the Royal Commonwealth Assembly just after midday, and protesters walked through the city’s streets to reach the Scottish Parliament.
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Thousands carried the country’s flag during the march, beat drums, and some held banners reading “Dismantle the British state”, “Independence now” and “Hope above fear”.
Earlier, Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, announced that the country would hold a public vote on independence for the second time by the end of 2023.
The Scottish Parliament overwhelmingly supports independence from the United Kingdom, enough to legislate a second referendum.
However, the new referendum requires the approval of the British central government.
In turn, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed his rejection of the idea of a new referendum and has repeatedly said that the Scots made their choice in the 2014 referendum.
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However, Sturgeon stresses that conditions have changed with Brexit.
This led to Scotland being withdrawn from the bloc against its will, as 62 percent voted to remain part of the European bloc in 2016.
Scotland held a referendum on secession from Britain in 2014, two years before the referendum to leave the European Union, but Scots voted against independence by 55.3 percent.
The government under then Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to better understand Scots and to grant “widespread new powers to the Scottish Parliament”.
The Scottish National Party, which led the campaign, was quite confident that the country would be better off with independence from the United Kingdom.
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However, the Scots rejected secession, with more than two million people (55.3 percent) voting to remain part of the United Kingdom, compared to 1.62 million (44.7 percent) supporting independence.
