Peter Tatchell reveals Scots independence support

EQUALITY campaigner and former Labour Westminster candidate Peter Tatchell has called on Scots to vote Yes in the 2014 independence referendum.

The well known gay rights activist and social justice campaigner suggested that an independent Scotland would be “more left wing” than England and could have a “progressive future”.

Mr Tatchell is well known for his direct style of campaigning and is also famous for when he stood as a Labour candidate in a bitterly fought by-election in Bermondsey, south London in the 1980s, when it is claimed he was subjected to an anti-gay campaign.

Mr Tatchell claimed that an independent Scotland could follow the example of nations that had won their independence in recent decades.

He said: “If I were Scottish, I would support independence. Lots of small breakaway states, like Slovenia, have been success stories. Scotland has historically been more left wing than England. Independence would give the Scots people the opportunity to chart their own progressive future. If tiny Malta can have self-rule, why not Scotland?”