IT was a hugely successful demonstration last March that kicked off a year of protests on the streets by pro-independence supporters.

Hands Off Our Parliament (HOOP) was different from the All Under One Banner marches in that it gained a lot of support from people anxious to preserve devolution in the face of a Tory Government power grab.

That power grab duly took place, but now the people behind HOOP say it is time not only to defend the Scottish Parliament again, but to call for a second independence referendum or Scottish Parliamentary election.

HOOP organiser Cliff Serbie and Dave Llewellyn, organiser of the 500-mile walk, are calling for a flash mob at Holyrood this Thursday, Jan 17 at 11am with the event expected to last to 3pm.

The Now Is The Time event will have an open mic will be set up for invited speakers and activists to share their views.

Llewellyn told The National: “The point is that we failed to stop the power grab and now the clock is ticking on SS Britannia sinking.

“Our aim is to make sure every politician inside the Holyrood Parliament is under no illusions that the Yes movement is ready to mobilise and that the campaign needs to start now even if the date is not clear.

“It can be via indyref2 or Scottish Parliament electionbut the  campaign needs to start.

“It’s our aim to have at least 500 people turn up on a cold January to tell politicians of all sides that ‘now is the time.’”