AS the clock struck 11pm on Friday night and the UK officially left the EU, people of Glasgow stood together in the cold January rain and sang. Auld Lang Syne, the traditional song of farewell, gave way to others as this almost 1000-strong crowd held torches aloft and the blue flags with yellow stars intermingled with Saltires. Soon they were singing Caledonia, a love song to Scotland, tonight directed at Europe.
Gathered at the top of the city’s Buchanan Street, they surrounded the statue of Donald Dewar. What this architect of devolution would have made of this overwhelming pro-indy event, can only be guessed at. But his commitment to the European Union – his belief that Scotland could play a critical role within it and likely horror that it had been pulled out against its will – seems clear.
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“I believe the experience of our European neighbours shows that countries which have decentralised systems of government can influential on the foreign stage, and be a constructive member of the European Union,” he said in a speech to Scotland’s Europa headquarters in Brussels way back in December 1997.
He was working, he said, to ensure its voice was heard there. Of course, when it mattered most Scotland’s voice – or at least 62% of its voice – counted for nothing.
In Glasgow’s George Square less than 100 Leave supporters, draped in Union flags, celebrated and set off fireworks as the bells tolled.
But at this Glasgow Loves EU organised vigil, there is deep sadness and anger that Scottish votes counted so little – with some visibly overcome with emotion. But there is also a defiance.
“I am European and that isn’t changing at 11 o’clock tonight,” said Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie to whoops and cheers, summing up the mood of many gathered. Rights can be removed by politicians but identity – not to mention geography – are not subject to this referendum.
The struggle for freedom was at the heart of the speeches here. Harvie and SNP MP Philippa Whitford both evoked the horrors of war and the way freedom of movement, denied to many before the formation of the EU, had transformed lives.
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Many had come hoping to feel less alone. Throughout the day other events had been spontaneously arranged across the city offering solidarity. In Govanhill, community interest company the Swap Market – where objects and skills can be swapped for free – held A Day of Connections, a sewing event and pot luck meal. It aimed, said manager Sibell Barrowclough, to put back the emphasis on unity rather than division and “chase away the gloom, fear and anxiety” facing both native and new Scots living here.
In Partick the Language Hub held a drop-in cafe event to support anyone feeling lost and anxious on Brexit day, with co-director, Michele Gordon – who is half Scottish and half German – admitting she had been in tears all week at what was being lost.
Hannah Graham, a lecturer in sociology and criminology at Stirling University spent her day texting EU colleagues before coming to stand in the rain at this vigil. “I think a lot of people are gathered here in solidarity and in empathy,” she says.
Graham has deep personal connections to the European Union. “I was born a UK citizen but I moved from Australia to be in Europe, specifically the EU,” she adds.
“I was attracted by the values, the sense of collaboration and the willingness to be internationalist and work across borders. I moved here working on EU funded projects – I learned so much from our European partners.”
Further up the Royal Concert Hall steps, wrapped in an EU flag, Scot-Italian Toni Giugliano says he is “devastated” but trying to be hopeful. “There is a real sense that this needs to be not the end of a relationship with the EU but the start of a new one where this time we are in the driving seat as an independent member state, not one side-lined by Westminster.”
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Yet on a night like Friday hope can feel like hard work, as Harvie noted in his speech, and South Lanarkshire councillor Mary Donnelly was struggling. Well she might.
She remembers working on the campaign for the UK to join as a young trade union activist. “There are so many rights – women’s rights, workers’ rights – that we just would not have got if we hadn’t joined the European Union, so I’m very emotional tonight.”
Her husband, Ian Donnelly, understands but for him this show of strength also serves as a confirmation that change is in the air. “We’re not there yet,” he says of independence. “But it’s coming. I think Scots have always been proud to be European – both nationalists and internationalists.”
The crowd is still singing, Caledonia surrounds us. “My way is clear,” they sing. Many would argue that now that Brexit is done, with Scotland an unwilling partner, there is a truth to be found in that.
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