SOMEWHERE between half a million and a million people marched in London yesterday in support of a second vote on leaving the EU as it becomes increasingly obvious that Britain is stuck in a Brexit nightmare.

It was an incredible show of support for the so-called People’s Vote, even if it is unlikely to change the mind of a Prime Minister who is more concerned with keeping her party together than with the best interest of the UK.

Nicola Sturgeon was right to pledge her support for such a vote when she addressed the march in a video, and also right to point out that the situation is rather different north of the Border.

Scotland doesn’t need a People’s Vote. We voted decisively to remain within the EU. We need to have our democratic wishes recognised. We need an arrangement which allows us to keep the benefits of membership of the single market. And we need our independence if those reasonable suggestions continue to be ignored by Westminster.

That said, a second EU referendum seems the only conceivable way that the UK as it is presently constituted could avoid the terrible consequences of Brexit.

The case for Scotland’s independence is not built on Brexit, even if the recent behaviour of Westminster underlines why we so desperately need to be in charge of our own destiny.

We know that our wishes carry no weight in Westminster. We know that the proclamation in 2014 that we were an equal partner in the Union was a lie. We know that the signatures of the UK party leaders on the infamous Vow was the result of cynical political expediency.

We don’t need to suffer the horrific fall-out from Brexit to prove the benefits of independence.

The Universal Credit system proves that. The inhumane actions of a Home Office putting into practice racist immigration laws proves that. The disdain with which the Prime Minister has treated our wishes and the empty threats of Ruth Davidson and David Mundell prove that.

All that remains to do is to exercise our very own version of People’s Vote.