Truth About the Indy March Numbers
There was not "90,000" as the ScotNats are trying to tell us; there wasn't even the "35,000" that the Glasgow police have ridiculously claimed. In reality, it is highly unlikely that there were more than 10,000 on the March for Independence in Glasgow on Saturday 5 May 2018 (and that is us being very generous)!
What Does 90,000 Look Like?
You want to know what 90,000 looks like? It is the full capacity of Wembley Stadium!
Wembley Stadium at full 90,000 capacity. Pic from: www.networldsports.co.uk/blog/garden-football-goals-wembley-stadium/
For example, we can check here:
wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stadiums_in_the_United_Kingdom_by_capacity
Wembley: 90,000
Murrayfield: 67,000
Celtic Park: 61,000
Hampden: 52,000
Ibrox: 51,000
How Long Did the March Take to Pass?
We are uniquely well placed to judge the numbers because we were there and the entire March passed our one point on Union Street, in Union City Glasgow!
We know it started to pass us at 12.40pm, as per the video of our event at: https://www.facebook.com/UKaForceForGood/videos/1734217933281690/
After 40 minutes the overwhelming bulk of the March had passed. For the next 20 minutes smaller groups were passing us in dribs and drabs, with empty gaps between them.
Our experience is backed up by the complete video evidence here:
As we can see from this video, the entire March takes almost exactly 1 hour to pass.
It begins at the 13 minute point on the video. The main bulk of the March passes in around 30 minutes. After the main bulk of it has passed, the next 10 minutes is noticeably less dense, and then the remaining 20 minutes is much more erratic and thinner, with most of the road empty.
We can see the considerable gaps of time in between, where the police are holding back the marchers until there is sufficient numbers of them to begin walking again.
So we are being very generous when we say that the March took 1 hour. It took one hour with time gaps. But let us use the 1 hour figure, anyway, and let us be generous!
Simple Arithmetic Reveals the Lie
Even simple arithmetic should be enough to disprove the ScotNats lie.
Consider: 90,000 passing in 1 hour is 1,500 passing consistently every single minute of the March. That's utterly absurd! It is not even physically possible.
35,000 in 1 hour is 583 people passing every single minute! It is beyond the bounds of physics. And what width of street would it have to be in order to accommodate such a massive number? If anyone still thinks that is possible, the video evidence at the YouTube link above, is enough to disprove such crazy stretches of the imagination.
How Many Can Pass a Fixed Point in 1 Hour?
It is a fact of nature than 90,000, or "35,000" cannot pass a fixed point in 1 hour unless they are collectively sitting on a jet-propelled hoverboard!
We have experience in counting marchers accurately.
We accurately calculated the numbers for the 2013 March for Independence in Glasgow on 21 September 2013.
We were there – deliberately to report on the event – and our figures tallied almost exactly with the Edinburgh police estimate. Edinburgh police are a lot more accurate than the Glasgow police at estimating numbers. The Glasgow police appear to "just think of a number".
Back then, the March took 50 minutes to pass and the Edinburgh police calculated 8,300 (50 fewer than I did). Notice also the specificity of "three hundred", rather than just a wild guess rounded up in thousands, which appears to be the approach of the Glasgow police.
See our Report of that day here: http://www.aforceforgood.org.uk/debunk/march13
If we take the larger 8,350 figure, that worked out at 167 people passing every minute.
This one in Glasgow, on 5-5-18 took an hour to pass, with most of it being over after 40 minutes. Therefore, even if we allow for a denser crowd, and even if we pretend there was a constant 167 every minute (and there was not because in reality the street was largely empty for at least 20 minutes of this 1 hour period), then we're looking at something up to 10,000 max (167x60mins), and almost certainly considerably fewer!
That is, at least nine times fewer than the Nats absurd propaganda!
So let's say (and we're being very generous), it was probably something between 8-10K. Possibly it would actually be less than 8K.
Let's Calculate this Mathematically!
We have developed the following from a Facebook comment on the matter: Imagine the group was 10 abreast. "90,000" would mean a March which was 9,000 people long.
If each person needs around 2 yards to stroll comfortably (and this is a rough approximation), then if they were walking in consistent formation (which they were not) then the length of the March would have to be 18,000 yards long, or 10 miles long!
We know that the entire length of the route was 3 miles long (according to this software): https://www.plotaroute.com/route/596334
So what this is saying is that for 90,000 to be walking the route, then there would still be 7 miles worth of people backed-up at the start point in Kelvingrove Park, when the front of the March had reached the end point in Glasgow Green!
Of course, that's ridiculous. We know that did not happen!
Now, consider Police Scotland's (Glasgow branch)...ahem..."estimation" of 35K.
That would be a March of 10 abreast and 3,500 people long, or 7,000 yards long if we give them 2 yards to stroll comfortably. 7,000 yards is just over 4 miles long! Again, this leaves a backed-up mile of people waiting at the start point!
However, if we calculate, as is likely, something between 8-10K on the March (let's say 9K) just to make things simple.
Then imagine they are 10 abreast and in consistent formation (which they were not). This means a March which is 900 people long. That would be around 1,800 yards long (if we give each person 2 yards to stroll).
This means we are looking at a March which is, in total, 1 mile long. Now that is more realistic (although it still seems far too long for what we witnessed)!
Make no mistake, we believe that somewhere around 8-10K (possibly less) is still a very impressive figure!
It is considerably more, at this stage, than mainstream Unionism could ever muster.
We are not denigrating their achievement. But we are pointing out that the Scottish Nationalists are transparently lying to us, and lying to their easily-persuaded followers; and nobody in the mainstream media is prepared to take them on!
We are also extremely disappointed in the clearly inaccurate, mathematically and physically impossible, and quite unprofessional Police Scotland (Glasgow branch) estimation.
