GERMANS for Scottish Independence will hold their first march and rally in more than three years on Saturday in the hope of increasing awareness of the campaign.
The march in Berlin – which is expected to attract dozens of Yessers – will start at the city’s famous Brandenburg Gate at 11am German time and proceed past the British Embassy and onto Alexanderplatz where a closing rally will be held.
Colin Macpherson, co-organiser of the event, said he was excited for the group to start properly demonstrating again after a struggle to get activists together during and following the pandemic.
He said: “Our aim is to raise awareness in Germany and I think it’s important for the wider grassroots movement in Scotland to see there is international support there.
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“During the referendum we had Unionists telling us nobody is interested in what you say in Scotland and we’ve seen that has changed a lot.
“It’s very important these events take place. It’s not necessarily a case of numbers, it’s more they are taking place. It’s about showing face.”
It will be the third such march to take place since the group started up in 2013 in the run-up to the referendum. Demonstrations were planned in both 2020 and 2021 but both had to be postponed due to the coronavirus crisis.
Macpherson – who is originally from Scotland but now lives Straubing in Lower Bavaria – said Brexit was what made many Germans more aware of the independence movement in Scotland, with many showing sympathy for the desire for self-determination.
He added: “My local MP freely admits to me now that he wasn’t interested in Scottish independence in 2014 but Brexit was the difference.
“People in Germany are aware Scotland voted to remain and quite possibly would be looking at re-joining the EU as an independent Scotland.”
Germans for Scottish Independence is mostly made up of those who feel they have an affinity to both countries.
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Germans who now live in Scotland, Scots who now live in Germany and Germans who have relatives in Scotland are just some of the groups you’d find campaigning with the group.
Macpherson said initially the group didn’t actively campaign and just spread the message of Scottish independence online.
But Brexit was what really injected energy into the group as many felt the injustice of Scotland being dragged out of the EU against its will.
“Brexit was the real kick-off [for the group],” he added.
“Alyn Smith’s speech in the European Parliament of ‘leave a light on for Scotland’. That’s when we said we need to get a bit more active.”
Although the group is non-party-political, Macpherson said he had been keeping up with the SNP leadership contest between Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan, which he said had involved “robust and respectful debate” so far.
But despite being a “fan of the EU”, his message to all three candidates was rejoining the bloc should not be tied to independence.
“I’m not convinced it’s a wise idea for the SNP to tie EU membership to independence. I’m a big EU fan, it’s been good to me, but I think we really need to divide the two issues,” said Macpherson.
“Independence should come first and then the people of Scotland can decide what route they want to take after that.
“I think it’s good to have a plan, there has to be some kind of prospectus on what we’re asking people to vote for, but it also needs to be clear that isn’t set in stone.
“I think we saw that in 2014 with currency and pensions – it gave us places for Unionists to attack us when we might decide to do it totally differently [when we’re independent].
“We don’t want to vote for a pig in a poke but at the same time independence is about being able to choose the path you take and that needs to be emphasised more than it was last time around.”
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