THEY came from all over the country by road, overcrowded trains and by sea for the biggest political rally the Highlands has ever seen, as more than 14,000 people marched through Inverness in a show of support for Scotland’s independence.

Highland Council closed off streets on Saturday as the crowd snaked through the centre of Inverness.

The march, organised by All Under One Banner (AUOB), was the latest in a series across Scotland and, buoyed by their success, organisers are now eyeing their next events in Dundee (August 18) and Edinburgh (October 6).

The National:

Highlands and Islands SNP MSP Maree Todd opened the rally, telling the jubilant crowd: “Oh boy! They try to tell us there is no appetite for an independence referendum. Look at us, we are huge.”

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Todd said the turnout was phenomenal, with people coming from all over the Highlands and Islands – from Shetland, Orkney, Caithness, Sutherland, Ross-shire, Moray, Skye and Argyll, as well as Lochaber, Lewis and Harris.

She went on: “I know that folk have come from further afield too, all over the country, but ... getting this number of people in the Highlands to take to the street for the cause of independence tells me there’s an appetite for it and tells me we’ll get it. When the Highlanders are mobilised, you know the Union is in trouble.”

Todd said the reasons people wanted independence were simple: “We’ll get what we vote for every time. At this march here today, there was a food bank collection. The local food bank has been short of supplies and put out a call for help.

“Why does such a rich country have citizens who can’t afford to eat? Because of welfare reform, brought in by a government which we didn’t vote for. Of course, I might not always get the government I vote for as an individual, regions might not get the government they choose, but most countries, most nations get the government they vote for. In the rest of the world, that is normal.”

The National:

Todd added that the biggest challenge facing us in Scotland today was Brexit, something that 62% of the country had rejected.

“There is no such thing as a good Brexit,” she warned. “It will harm our economy and harm our community ... it’s just a matter of how much harm, and with the Tories and all their infighting ... even they don’t know what they want – it is indeed a right Brexit boorach.”

The event was marred for some who had to journey from further south in badly overcrowded trains.

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Sheila Urquhart, who travelled from Perth, told The National: “We had booked our seats but there were only three carriages on the train and some seats were being used for luggage.

“When we asked the people who were sitting in our seats to move, they said they had been told by the guard that a computer failure had meant tickets weren’t being printed and they had been told to sit anywhere. It was so overcrowded it was dangerous.”

Her daughter, Katie, said: “There were a lot of tourists on the train and a lot of older people, some of whom had to stand all the way. Why couldn’t ScotRail plan for this properly? ”

A ScotRail spokesman apologised to those who had to stand. He added: “Anyone who reserved a seat but had to stand is entitled to compensation. To claim, customers can send copies of their tickets and reservations to our customer relations team.”