Brexit backlash protest
Thousands take to the streets in London to call for new referendum
LONDON— Thousands of Britons took to the streets of Central London on Saturday for a “People’s Vote” march, demanding that the government call a new referendum on Britain’s exit from the European Union.
By mid-afternoon, organizers said the rally had drawn more than 600,000 for what the event’s website calls “The Independent March for the Future,” a cross-party, grass-roots campaign by groups such as Britain for Europe, Scientists for EU, Our Future Our Choice, and Wales For Europe & InFacts.
Mayor Sadiq Khan addressed the march, which was to end in Parliament Square.
Organizers expected the protest to be the biggest of its kind, with about 150 buses ferrying thousands of demonstrators from across the country to London.
A petition by the groups has drawn more than 320,000 signatures, with a goal of 350,000 goal. It says:
“We have watched the chaos unfold in cabinet and the turmoil in negotiations with dismay and foreboding. None of us voted for a bad deal or no deal that would wreck our economy. Nor do we accept that either is inevitable. If the Brexit deal is rejected by Parliament, then we, the people of Britain, should have the democratic right to determine our own future. That is why we are demanding a People’s Vote on the final Brexit deal.”
Footage on the BBC showed throngs of people snaking through the streets.
Demonstrators carried signs with slogans such as: “Brexit: Ugly word, ugly idea.” Andrew Adonis, a Labour member of the House of Lords, said Saturday that “voters will neither forgive nor forget” if lawmakers allowed “this miserable Brexit to proceed without people being given the final say.”
Britons voted to leave the trade bloc by a narrow margin in a 2016 referendum. Prime Minister Theresa May has ruled out another public vote on the subject.
Britain is scheduled to leave the bloc on March 29, but negotiations have been plagued by disagreements, particularly over the issue of the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which will be the United Kingdom’s only land frontier with the European Union after the process known as Brexit.
There are growing fears of a “no deal” exit, which could create chaos at the borders and in the economy.