Brexit marchers call for second referendum
LONDON/BELFAST: Hundreds of thousands of supporters of the European Union marched through London on Saturday (local time) in the biggest demonstration so far to demand that the British Government hold a public vote on the terms of Brexit.
The protesters waved the blue and gold flag of the EU and held up ‘‘Bollocks to Brexit’’ banners under sunny skies to call for another referendum on the eventual deal on how Britain will leave the world’s biggest trading bloc.
The march comes after another tumultuous week for Prime Minister Theresa May in which she failed to agree a APPROACHING 700,000 people marched on Saturday (local time) for a People’s Vote, from London’s Marble Arch to Parliament Square. The crowd seemed endless.
Yet as the marchers knew full well, they have no purchase on either a Conservative Party consumed by civil war and unable to coalesce around any kind of compromise, or on a Labour leadership absurdly wanting to be both in and out, and soon to descend into its own civil war. So did the march divorce deal with EU leaders in Brussels and infuriated members of her own party by making further concessions in the talks.
James McGrory, one of the organisers of the march, said voters should have the chance to change their minds, because the decision would affect their lives for generations.
‘‘People think the Brexit negotiations are a total mess. They have no faith in the Government to deliver the promises that were made, partly because they cannot be delivered,’’ he said.
Organisers said about 700,000 people took part, which would make it the largest march in Britain since a demonstration
mean anything?
I was there, walking all the way with marchers that Saturday’s leader had described as having a collective hissyfit and full of hate. A less hatefilled crowd you could scarcely find. It was good humoured, funky and fun. But for all that, the question I was asked repeatedly was if I thought anyone was listening. Was the march worth it?
Unambiguously yes. This was the biggest protest on the streets of London since the Iraq War. The was no less scornful of the protesters then, and the political class no less equally keen to ignore them. But 15 years on there is no doubt that the Iraq War was a firstorder calamity. It triggered mayhem in the against the Iraq War in 2003.
Protesters gathered near Hyde Park and then walked past Downing Street and finished outside Parliament, where they listened to politicians from all main political parties.
In Belfast, Northern Ireland,
Middle East for zero gain, along with stunning death and destruction.
When people are roused in their hundreds of thousands to give up their time for peaceful protest, they are never wrong. They are not wrong now. The Leave ‘‘side’’ could not mount a protest of a similar scale — and if it did, it really would be consumed by hate and rage.
For the political energy and momentum is with Remain. The EU is a noble cause, and leaving it will weaken us in every way. Brexit, as the many witty placards proclaimed, was a lie built on a con. If there is another vote, it will undoubtedly be won by
Remain.
It will also shatter the Conservative Party. Around about 2000 people gathered to oppose Brexit, while in Harrogate, in the north of England, Brexit supporters held their own rally.
Speaker Richard Tice, vicechairman of Leave Means Leave, described the marchers in London as ‘‘losers’’ and said a second referendum would trigger a constitutional crisis.
‘‘We had a vote, we voted to leave, the idea to have a second referendum would be incredibly damaging,’’ he said.
‘‘People need to be under no illusions as to how people feel about what is a significant potential for a total betrayal of democracy in this country.’’ — Reuters
what proposition on Europe could its warring factions unite for a general election manifesto? Ignore the absurd arguments that the people having a second vote is somehow undemocratic — or that there would be civil disturbances if Remain won. They are from Conservative apologists keenly aware that for Tories, the stakes are now existential: the ongoing coherence of their party.
We Remainers did not start or want this de facto civil war. But the message of Saturday was that we will contest Brexit every inch. We are as passionate as any Brexiter, and there are a lot of us. The was wrong on Iraq. It is wrong on Brexit. — Guardian News and Media