A NATIONWIDE wave of protests took place yesterday against Boris Johnson’s “outrageous” decision to suspend Parliament in the run-up to Brexit.

Demonstrations under the #stopthecoup banner were held in more than 30 towns and cities across the UK including Manchester, Leeds, York and Belfast, with protesters bringing parts of London to a halt.

In Scotland, rallies were held in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen, Inverness, Lerwick and Kirkwall.

Writing in the Sunday National today, Nicola Sturgeon has warned the Prime Minister’s actions are “utterly unprecedented in modern times.”

She describes him as acting like a tin-pot dictator and refers to reports suggesting that if he ignored a no confidence vote he would be akin to a despot.

The First Minister said the immediate priority is to stop a No-Deal Brexit, but pledged Scottish Government will continue to take forward moves for a fresh independence referendum.

She added that amid the chaos of Westminster it is “more important than ever” the Scottish Government continues to act in a “considered and consensual” way.

Thousands attended yesterday’s protest in Glasgow’s George Square, with politicians addressing the crowds, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, on his final public engagement of a three-day visit to Glasgow, depute SNP leader Keith Brown, Labour MPs Paul Sweeney and Danielle Rowley and Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie.

People waved signs with messages such as ‘A parcel of proroguers in a nation’; ‘Resist the Shutdown’; ‘Nae Coup, Democracy Noooo! and ‘RIP British Democracy’.

Another banner read: “5 weeks – It’s not common, it doesn’t happen all the time and it is a big deal.”

Among the protesters was William Bonar, 66, from Glasgow, who said: “I am outraged by this proroguing of Parliament and I’m outraged by the whole drive towards No Deal.

“I am bitterly opposed to Brexit anyway. However I am split because it seems to me that if Brexit goes ahead, especially in this form, it will make an independent Scotland more likely – which I am fully in favour of. But I just don’t want this right-wing coup to go ahead.”

Clare McKeown, who is in her 40s and originally from the US but has lived in Scotland for 13 years, said: “It is appalling when they are doing.

“I am a naturalised citizen and for that you are forced to take a test that tells you all about these so-called British values.

“Why did I bother taking the test as obviously they mean nothing to the people in charge?

“I wanted to be one of a big crowd saying we can’t stand for this – as then we don’t have democracy anymore.”

At the rally organised by Another Europe is Possible, depute leader of the SNP Keith Brown MSP said the numbers attending show the way people feel about what is happening to democracy in this country.

He told the crowd: “It is not enough they are taking us out of the EU when Scotland voted massively to stay in the EU.

“It is not enough they are going to have 100,000 unemployed in Scotland, many more across the UK as well. It is not enough the £14billion hit to our economy.

“They are actually laughing at us as well. Jacob Rees-Mogg says people are hysterical about this – it’s candy floss is what he says.

“They are laughing at us as they are doing this. We should not accept this.”

He said it was possible to “stop the madness, even now”.

BROWN added: “We have to cling to the idea that another Europe is possible, another UK government is possible and another Scotland is possible. Keep on fighting.”

Labour MP Paul Sweeney also addressed the rally saying: “If they try to shut down Parliament, try to prorogue it, try to deny that this Prime Minister will only have been subject to the scrutiny of Parliament five days out of 80 days in power.

“If they try to do that they will have to drag us out – they will have to send in the police to drag the MPs out of Parliament, as we are not leaving Parliament under any circumstances.”

Jeremy Corbyn spoke in George Square at a platform organised by People’s Assembly Defend Democracy, telling the Prime Minister “it’s our Parliament”.

He paid tribute to the long history of protest in George Square and said demonstrations were taking place everywhere because people were “angered and outraged” about what is happening.

He added: “Today we are standing in the footsteps of those who have gone before us to achieve that justice and those rights.

“I’m proud to be here with all of you supporting that, to say to Boris Johnson: No way, it’s our Parliament.

“No way do you take us out without a deal – we will stop you and give the people their rights and their say to determine their future.”

Elsewhere in Scotland, protesters marched to a gathering outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, with demonstrators waving both EU and Scotland flags and chanting “stop the coup”.

Protests were also held in Dundee and Aberdeen, with smaller demonstrations taking place in the north in Inverness, Lerwick in Shetland and Kirkwall in Orkney.

In London, the streets around Westminster were brought to a standstill, with cries of “shame on you” directed at Boris Johnson outside Downing Street.

A sit-down protest was staged in the roads around Trafalgar Square before the demonstrators marched to Buckingham Palace shouting: “Whose democracy? Our democracy.”

Westminster Bridge was blocked by protesters, who were shouting: “If you shut down our Parliament, we shut down your bridge.”

A small group of counter-protesters also demonstrated in central London unfurled a banner reading “Brexit Now” by the Cenotaph.

A crowd of more than 1,000 gathered at Cathedral Gardens in Manchester city centre, while a couple of thousand protesters marched through Bristol city centre, bringing traffic to a standstill.

Several hundred gathered in Birmingham’s Victoria Square to hear speeches opposing the proroguing of Parliament.

And more than 1,000 people gathered in the centre of York to listen to speakers outside the famous Bettys tea rooms and The Ivy restaurant.

Protesters also gathered outside Oxford University’s Balliol College, which was attended by Johnson, to express their displeasure about his handling of Brexit.

The #StoptheCoup movement has now called for protests to be held daily across the country, beginning tomorrow. Michael Chessum, national organiser for Another Europe is Possible, said: “We are witnessing the birth of a huge movement to fight for democracy and oppose Boris’ Brexit agenda.

“It’s uniting. Many people are just outraged at Johnson’s attempts to shut down Parliament. The crowds are angry, energetic and hopeful, and are taking matters into their own hands.

“We aren’t here to ask Boris nicely, we’re here to force him to back down. That means civil disobedience and being willing to disrupt things.”

MEANWHILE Tory tensions over Brexit were ramped up yesterday as former chancellor Philip Hammond expressed anger at reports Conservative MPs who actively oppose a No-Deal EU withdrawal will be barred from standing at the next election.

Hammond responded furiously to reports that any bid to extend Brexit beyond October 31 to stop a No-Deal exit would be treated as a no confidence issue, with supporting Tory MPs stopped from standing for the party.

He tweeted: “If true, this would be staggeringly hypocritical: 8 members of the current cabinet have defied the party whip this year.

“I want to honour our 2017 manifesto which promised a “smooth and orderly” exit and a “deep and special partnership” with the EU.

“Not an undemocratic No Deal.”

The intervention came as Hammond’s successor at the Treasury, Chancellor Sajid Javid backed Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament.

Despite insisting during the Tory leadership campaign that he thought proroguing Parliament was a bad idea, Javid has now insisted the Government needs time to focus on its agenda in the run-up to outlining plans in October’s Queen’s Speech.

He said: “It is quite usual this time of year, Parliament goes into what’s called a conference recess and it doesn’t usually sit for some time in September and early October.

“It’s right because we are focusing on the people’s priorities.”

During one of the Tory leadership debates, Javid had said: “You don’t deliver on democracy by trashing democracy. We are not selecting a dictator of our country, we are selecting a prime minister.”

But when quizzed about this yesterday he claimed: “I wasn’t being asked about a Queen’s Speech, a Government setting an agenda, that was a question around suspending Parliament for the sake of it for months on end in order to avoid debate.