THE campaigners who pitched tents outside the Scottish Parliament and promised to stay there until Scotland became independent have been told to leave by tomorrow.
Sheriff officers delivered a legal notice to the campers threatening court proceedings unless they checked out of the site.
The campers have said that they will not be moved.
Holyrood took the action, claiming IndyCamp Live was “preventing other members of the public ... using the public space, and therefore infringing on the rights and freedoms of others”.
The Parliament was also worried people might think Holyrood was no longer impartial if it did not challenge the camp. Parliamentary chief executive Paul Grice wrote to MSPs telling them the campers had not been willing to come to an agreement to replace the permanent site with a series of one-day protests. “Over the last week we have seen a gradual increase in the size and scale of the camp with the arrival of a caravan, cars and the use of petrol/diesel generators, lighting and fire braziers,” Grice wrote.
“The protesters made it clear they intend to camp indefinitely on parliament land without permission and will not consider alternative options such as the organisation of a series of one-day protests.“
As a first step therefore we have this afternoon issued the protesters with a formal letter asking them to vacate the parliament’s grounds within 48 hours.”
Moira Williams, from the camp, told news website BuzzFeed regardless of any action the campers were staying put: “Of course we’re not leaving, we’re perfectly in the law,” said Williams. “They’re not saying we’re breaking the law, and we’re not.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here