IN QUOTES: Inverness march organiser believes Brexit could be 'catalyst' for independent Scotland while SNP MP brands EU exit situation as 'absolute rubbish' and insists nation doesn't want to be part of 'little narrow-minded Britain'
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ABOUT 1000 people have been marching through Inverness in the city's second major pro-independence rally in the space of eight months.
Organisers had been expecting up to 1000 people to take part in the Standing Up For Scotland’s Citizens march which started and ended at Bught Park and take a route over the River Ness and past Inverness Castle.
The event was designed to “highlight the fact the we have no real democracy in Scotland”, according to organisers and adopted the slogan Scotland can.
Before the march set off, Inverness MP Drew Hendry addressed the crowd through a megaphone calling for a period of silence for the victims of the massacres at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Then he said: "Brexit? Let me ask you: what do you think of Brexit? It is absolute rubbish.
"We are marching today to say that Scotland did not vote for Brexit and we value our EU friends and neighbours. And we want our children and young people to experience and have the benefit of what for the last 40 years is to be part of a progressive Europe and treats its members as people. But not only that, it stands by its smaller countries as can be seen in the case of Ireland.
"When you are marching today you are sending a signal to [Prime Minister] Theresa May that you don't want Brexit, that Brexit is not what Scotland is about. We want to climb the wall, we want to be part of the international community not to be part of little narrow-minded Britain, sitting in isolation and throwing up its barriers to the rest of the world.
"So we send that message to Theresa May and to all of the Brexiteers."
One of the organisers, Judith Reid, said that Brexit could be the "catalyst" that leads Scotland towards independence.
"I'm feeling quite ecstatic. The weather stayed good, the humour is really good, there is all manner of people here, all different ages, all different nationalities with flags flying. And the message is 'Scotland can'.
"It is about time we stood up and we cannot keep the suppression that is going on in Scotland."
More pictures and reports in the next edition of the Inverness Courier, Ross-shire Journal, Highland News and North Star.
