Under a grey sky

Glasgow was resolutely grey today - we left Dunoon in sunshine, but the weather didn't keep up with us as we headed to Glasgow to join the rally organised by The National in George Square. And under that grey sky, and in the intermittent rain, hundreds of saltires floated, interspersed with the YES flags anticipating our next Independence referendum and the European flags indicating our desire to remain part of Europe. 

There were some great speeches. Mhairi Black had to battle against an inadequate sound system, but by the time Janey Godley was doing her live voiceovers to political videos and Mike Russell, our MSP as well as the Brexit secretary, was making his speech volume was restored and the feeble yells of a few Unionists on the fringes of the square were drowned out. I was fascinated to hear Mike Russell doing the big public speech thing; I've known him for years and have often heard him patiently putting the Scottish case on TV, but his communication with this huge crowd - twice the population of Dunoon, apparently - was electric. Humza Yousaf was another passionate advocate, and the event ended with Nicola Sturgeon emphasising the inclusiveness of Scotland and the repudiation of all that Brexit stands for. A young American woman behind me was amazed: "She's doing all that out of her head? She's amazing!"

I agree. There were moments when I felt my legs would never bend again, moments when I thought I'd never get out of the crowd - but by the end of the two and a half hours there I was elated. We have leaders to be proud of.