‘British people must have right
MPs issue rallying cry for thousands to march on Parliament and demand second referendum
DOZENS of MPs from London and the South East today issued an unprecedented appeal to tens of thousands of people to join a march on Parliament for a second referendum on Brexit.
They urged people to take to the streets tomorrow for the People’s Vote rally from Park Lane to Westminster.
Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs joined forces, calling on voters to “stand up to the hard Brexiteers”, “march with us” to protect jobs and the NHS, “take back control” and “bin Brexit”.
Former Tory Cabinet minister Justine Greening, the MP for Putney, said: “Parliament is gridlocked. It’s now vital that people across our country and in communities like my own are given the final say on Brexit.”
Former Attorney General Dominic Grieve, Tory MP for Beaconsfield, in Buckinghamshire, appealed: “If you think the future of our country matters and that we should prevent a very bad outcome ... please participate in the People’s Vote march.” David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham, condemned “lies and broken promises” made to voters on quitting the EU. “The British people must now have the right to vote on the reality of Brexit for the first time,” he added.
The Labour Mayor of London Sadiq Khan warned that Britain is hurtling towards a Brexit “cliff-edge at breakneck speed”, and stressed: “It’s time for us to take back control.”
Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Vince Cable, whose seat is in Twickenham, said: “This march is a demonstration of the anger that young people in particular feel from having a Brexit they never wanted imposed on them.”
In a sign of this feeling, students from Orkney and the Highlands left early this morning to reach London for tomorrow’s march.
Rushanara Ali, Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, urged people to march to show that the Government “cannot hold this country hostage due to internal Conservative Party divisions”. Tulip Siddiq, Hampstead and Kilburn’s Labour MP, said the rally would let people who “feel betrayed by this Government to shout loudly against the direction in which the country is heading”.
With Britain’s Brexit bill already into the billions of pounds and forecast to spiral, Chuka Umunna, Labour MP for Streatham, added: “If you want to protect jobs, make sure we have money to invest in our NHS and secure the best possible future for our young people, then march with us.”
Catherine West, Labour MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, appealed to voters to “send Theresa May a clear message”. Gareth Thomas, Labour MP for Harrow West, said: “It’s time to stand up to the hard Brexiteers whose cavalier approach will damage the economy and put jobs at risk.”
Labour’s Wes Streeting, who represents Ilford North, stressed: “It’s time to give power back to the people.”
Andy Slaughter, Labour MP for Hammersmith, said a People’s Vote was “the go-to solution” for “increasing numbers of voters despairing at the Government’s failure to negotiate any acceptable deal”. Rupa Huq, Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton, said: “What is there more democratic than giving the public a chance to endorse any deal.” Labour’s Peter Kyle, whose seat is in Hove, stressed: “The biggest threat to stopping a damaging Brexit is the sense that people have that it’s inevitable.”
Mike Gapes, Ilford South Labour MP, is hoping for a “massive turn-out” for a new vote to “heal the wounds in this country”. Former Tory justice minister