Huge Scottish independence rally drowns out 'racist' protest in Edinburgh

THOUSANDS of Scottish independence supporters and anti-racism activists drowned out a small immigration protest outside the Holyrood parliament on Saturday.

Some 75 people turned out at the “Enough is Enough” anti-immigration rally organised by the fringe Unionist group a Force for Good – led by the Holocaust denier Alistair McConnachie – in Edinburgh on Saturday afternoon.

They were met by around 300 people who had answered a call from Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) to oppose the core message of the demonstration: against “asylum frauds” and irregular immigration – such as small boat crossings. 

Campaigners at the SUTR counter-protest (left), and the 'Enough is Enough' anti-immigration demo (Image: PA) The sides traded insults – with SUTR campaigners shouting allegations of racism and fascism met by calls of “scum” and “go home” – before speakers at the Unionist rally took the stage, largely overshadowed by a sound-system brought by Cabaret Against Hate Speech on the opposing side.

The arrival of the Yes Bikers at 12:30 – the same time as the anti-immigration rally was due to begin – essentially put a temporary halt on proceedings as the roars of the engines drowned out both sides.

Around 30 minutes later, the main core of the All Under One Banner (AUOB) Scottish independence march arrived at the Scottish Parliament, having proceeded down the Royal Mile from Johnston Terrace.

Thousands of people taking part in a Scottish independence march have arrived at Holyrood 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 The march has drowned out a far-right protest after organisers urged people taking part to wave their Saltires in a show against the “perversion” of the flag 👇 pic.twitter.com/HtdbBFqpVX

— The National (@ScotNational) September 6, 2025

The largest Scottish independence march for some time, around 2500-3000 people waving Saltires and Yes flags, playing bagpipes and banging drums, completely drowned out the anti-immigration protest.

AUOB had said, in a call to join their Edinburgh rally, that they would be demonstrating against the “perverted and inverted” use of the Scottish Saltire by anti-refugee groups, such as protesters at the Force for Good rally, as well as calling for the Scottish people to have the right to decide their own future.

An AUOB-organised march down the Royal Mile saw Yes supporters call for Scotland to have a right to decide its future, as well as oppose the use of the Saltire by anti-immigration groups (Image: Gordon Terris) Speaking from the rally, SUTR campaigner Rania Obead said she believed the “Enough is Enough” rally represented a “movement of the far right [that] is really building in the whole country”.

“I think what is going on now is actually really, really fed by the [UK] Government, fed by the media, fed by a lot of misinformation about refugees, Muslims, people coming to this country,” Obead, a former asylum seeker from Sudan who now works in Scottish higher education, said. 

“We need to say these people are really enriching our country. These people come with their culture, with their education, with their skills, and they come here to build. We need them.

“But when I see the Labour government saying the same thing – they need to stop refugees, they need to stop small boats – the top of our society is actually building these things, they really boost the far right movement.”

Obead said she had seen a banner at a different anti-immigration rally which read “Kill ‘em all”, as The National previously reported Police Scotland is investigating.

“When I read this, I think he's targeting me personally and people like me – because he is saying kill people like me,” she said. “What inhumanity makes someone think like that?”

Rania Obead said the UK Government was giving the far right a 'boost' (Image: NQ) Jamie, another SUTR campaigner, also said he believed the UK Government was “chasing the far right”.

“Keir Starmer, his Island of Strangers speech was nothing other than capitulations to what the racists are saying,” Jamie said. “As the government and the mainstream media continue to shift to the right, it's just giving validation to these groups who feel they now have the right to assemble and build racism and fascism on our streets.”

Protesters on the “Enough is Enough” side, such as a Force for Good’s Mark Donald, denied being racist. Donald showed an image of himself with black friends as proof that he is only opposed to “illegal immigrants”.

Asked how he could tell the difference, Donald said: “If they come in a boat they’re an illegal immigrant. If they come via a plane, [they’re not].”

Mark Donald (in red) taking part in the anti-immigration protest organised by a Force for Good (Image: PA) McConnachie also denied the “racist” and “fascist” accusations. He used his speech to accuse the SUTR campaigners of slinging insults, claiming that his allies would not stoop to that level.

Minutes earlier, in an exchange caught on video by The National, McConnachie had to step in to stop a woman wearing a Force for Good shirt from shouting and making obscene gestures at SUTR activists after she was spoken to by police.

Asked about the allegations of racism, McConnachie said: “We don't rise to that. We ignore it. It's old hat.”

Asked what message he wanted to send and to whom, McConnachie said: “The message that we're trying to send and the reason why we're holding it outside the Scottish Parliament is because we want to tell the people in that building, the MSPs, the people who have got the power, that mass immigration and fraudulent asylum seeking into Scotland is far too high.”