by Cameron Scott
Following the death of England’s Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, and in the absence of any direct heirs, her cousin King James VI of Scotland ascended the English throne to become James I of England. Both countries continued as separate states who shared a monarchy for just over the next hundred years, until the Acts of Union of 1706 and 1707 unified both parliaments, thus forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain. In this case ‘Great’ actually means large, the lesser Britain being Brittany in France.
Fast forward to the 21st century and the union still exists, although the issue of home rule for Scotland has remained ever present since that unification three hundred years ago and has gained ground in the last half century. This came to a head in 2014 when a referendum was held in Scotland over whether it should be an independent country. The No campaign won the day with 55% of the vote. Many thought that this would settle the matter, however the result saw a change at the top of Scottish politics, with incumbent First Minister and Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Alex Salmond standing down to make way for his then protégé Nicola Surgeon. Both very capable politicians, Ms Sturgeon went on to build on the popularity of the SNP in Scotland, who continued to dominate political representation in both the Scottish and UK governments, indeed at one point support for independence reached 55% in many polls. The campaigning and result of that referendum saw independence supporters adopt the word Yes as an identifier, although Indy is still also used. It also caused divisions within some friends and family circles that to this day haven’t healed.
In February 2023, to everyone’s surprise including seasoned political journalists and commentators, Ms Sturgeon announced her resignation, an event which sent shock waves through the political classes, and indeed for many heralded the start of a decline in the independence movement. Her reasons were explained, but the more likely real reason became clear weeks later when her husband and former chief executive of the SNP was arrested by police investigating irregularities in party finances, an investigation that is ongoing.
From a photographer’s perspective, I had made some previous attempts at starting a documentary project on the independence movement, not through personal beliefs or preferences, but because it represented an important part of the fabric of life in Scotland. However, the marches and rallies that I covered were very poorly attended and I struggled to build the necessary archive of images, so eventually abandoned it. The main reason for the poor attendance seemed to be division within the movement itself. Social and other online media sources made clear that many independence supporters felt that the SNP were not moving fast enough, and indeed were not truly representative of the movement itself.
On Saturday May 6th 2023 an umbrella organisation for the independence movement called All Under One Banner held a march in Glasgow. This coincided with the coronation of King Charles III in London, an event which largely passed unheralded in Scotland. Once again social and other online media sources suggested that this march was becoming more than just another independence publicity gathering, this was the chance to show that the movement was alive and well with the various factions involved finally coming together in unity, despite the SNP’s current woes following Ms Sturgeon’s resignation. Also, for the first time, I noticed republican sentiments creeping into the mix, something that was never really prevalent before.
So, while the Coronation spectacle was kicking off in London, I was desperately defending my vantage point on the bridge above Glasgow’s Charing Cross as the crowd of media and supporters grew around me. Eventually the police vehicles in the distance gave way to a sea of Scottish Saltire flags and the sound of bagpipes. As the march drew closer it became clear that this was a big one, the organisers might actually have got the ten thousand that were on the procession planning application. A few shots from above then it was time to join said procession as it made its way through the city to Glasgow Green on the opposite side from the start at Kelvingrove. Photographing the marchers was the usual exhilarating experience, although on this occasion the procession was just too big to cover all of it, so I worked the area relatively near the front, only catching the stragglers as they finally made their way down through Saltmarket, about half an hour after the leading pipers had passed the guard of honour formed by the Yes Bikers on the entrance to Glasgow Green.
In Scotland we have our own legal and judicial system and in addition matters such as transport, health, social welfare and taxation are devolved to the government in Edinburgh. Therefore, the appalling Public Order Act that was recently passed by the UK government does not apply here. This law negates the right to peaceful protest and allowed the Metropolitan Police in London to arrest leading republican activists before any peaceful protest had taken place during the Coronation of Charles III, as a preventative measure. Meanwhile, in Glasgow the city centre streets resounded to repeated choruses of ‘You Can Stick Your Coronation Up Your Arse’. A tale of two cities indeed.
