Organisers say march is just the start of many

Independence campaigners have vowed to hold “bigger and bolder” rallies until Scotland is free.

The pledge comes as tens of thousands of independence supporters marched through the streets of Glasgow on Saturday bringing the city to a standstill.

Protesters weaved through the city centre streets before converging at Glasgow Green with numbers exceeding organisers’ expectations.

Police Scotland estimated that 35,000 people joined the procession, which ended with speeches and music.

Pro-independence organisation All Under One Banner organised the event and said it would march at regular intervals “until Scotland is free.”

Chants of “Tories out” rang out from the crowd, alongside demands for “independence now”. Some had placards in solidarity with Windrush, against racism, Trump, the Tories and Trident. One proclaimed, "The union is dead."

Coordinator Neil Mackay said: "The purpose is to grow the movement, to galvanize us and bring more people on board, and to give as good a representation of the movement as we can.

"As far as we're all concerned there will be another independence referendum, and it'll be before 2021 when Brexit finally happens. We're ready, and we'll be doing this every year all over Scotland."

Mackay said the demonstrators were from all over Scotland and elsewhere, including England and Germany.

“We've got a strong English Scots for Yes contingent on the march today which is great,” he said. "There's a delegation from Germany, and from people all around the world who have had flights and hotels booked for months."

Paddy Lyons, who organised hundreds of marchers from Ayrshire, said: "We need to get independence back on track. This is just the start of bigger and bolder marches. We'll continue until we can't be ignored any longer."

Organisers say turnout was over double that of last year, which itself was double the year before.