Kirriemuir rally to mark Brexit anniversary

The event, on Tuesday (January 31) will be part of a Scotland-wide wave of events which will see people across the country protesting about Scotland being taken out of the EU.

Candle-lit rallies are being held across the country with events outside the Scottish Parliament, in Dumfries, Perth, Dundee, Inverness and Skye.

Weather permitting, the Kirrie rally will see local musicians out with bagpipes, guitars, and fiddles.

Ruth Watson, a member of Yes Kirriemuir, a party-neutral group which campaigns for Scottish independence, said the events have been organised as Brexit has been “a huge disaster for Scotland.”

The group held a 12-hour vigil on the first ‘Brexit Day’ in 2020, which Ruth said had been a “huge success” with people coming from across Tayside to take part. At midnight, more than 200 residents turned out to light a candle to Europe.

She continued: “So many of the issues we are facing now are a direct consequence of being taken out of the EU, from skilled staff shortages which are really hurting the NHS, agriculture, hospitality, and more, to higher prices and empty shelves in our supermarkets.

"What is very worrying now is the Retained EU (Revocation and Repeal) Bill which is going through Westminster. It will see thousands of EU laws we signed up to being wiped off the statute books without a requirement for there to be replacement laws in place, from food standards to workers’ rights. To make matters worse, the Westminster Government has pushed through rules which means they can force bad laws on Scotland.

"We decided to hold this rally in the middle of Kirriemuir to provide a local focus for all those people who want to see Scotland as a progressive, fairer, independent nation which is an equal member state in the European Union. That has to be better than what we have now, lurching from crisis to crisis in Brexit Britain.”

The rally will run from 3pm-7pm and Ruth said that everyone will be welcome.