Sir Knights in Scotland hold parade in Bathgate

Members of the Royal Black Institution were on parade in Scotland at the weekend.

Organised by the Provincial Grand Black Chapter of Scotland, the demonstration in Bathgate on Saturday, August 10 was attended by Sovereign Grand Master, Rev William Anderson.

In his speech during the platform proceedings, Rev Anderson focused on the three resolutions of Faith, Loyalty and Constitutional.

In response to the resolution on Faith, the Sovereign Grand Master remarked on the importance of all Sir Knights regularly reading the Bible and listening for God’s response for their lives.

“Our nation as a whole needs to return to being a Bible-believing nation as Scotland once was, by breaking from the bonds of sin that so easily beset us today,” said Rev Anderson.

On the second resolution of Loyalty, the Sovereign Grand Master pointed out that the call for Scottish independence simply did not stack up in terms of loyalty to the Queen and in economic terms, as Scotland in 2018 had a budget deficit of £12.4 billion. This equalled 7.9% of GDP in Scotland compared with a GDP of 1.9% for the whole of the UK. Given this huge disparity in GDP, the Sovereign Grand Master asked: “First Minister, how will the utopia of Scottish independence be paid for?”

On the third resolution of Constitutional, Rev Anderson reminded his listeners of the old slogan “United we stand, divided we fall” – and that republicanism had nothing to offer the people of Scotland. 

“There needs to be a clear understanding of the dangers of independence for Scotland on the whole of the United Kingdom. As Scottish citizens you must ensure that you vote only for parties that are unionist by clear definition in order to protect the Union, otherwise you will acquiesce to your own demise,” he said.    

The Sovereign Grand Master concluded: “Scotland’s future belongs in a strong United Kingdom, the fifth largest economy in the world, where democracy, delivering a majority, has the final say – it is the only sustainable way to govern our people of the whole United Kingdom.”