Farage puts his best foot forward for Brexit
LEAVERS’ MARCH OF 270 MILES TO GET UNDER WAY IN SUNDERLAND TODAY
FORMER UKIP leader Nigel Farage will get his March To Leave walk under way on Wearside today.
Starting in Sunderland, the protest – organised by campaigners who want Britain to leave the EU, with or without a deal – will be led by Mr Farage, who will be joined by Leave Means Leave founder Richard Tice and chairman John Longworth.
It will end in London on the day Britain has been scheduled to leave the EU on March 29.
Hundreds are expected to turn out for the march, which will wind its way down the country to end at the capital’s Parliament Square.
The March To Leave will campaign under the slogan Brexit Betrayal.
Sunderland has been selected as the place to start following the EU Referendum in 2016, when 61.3% of Sunderland voters backed Brexit.
Earlier MEP Mr Farage tweeted: “We are marching from Sunderland to London to tell the Westminster elite we will not be betrayed over Brexit. Get your walking boots on!”
Joining Mr Farage on the launch day will be Kate Hoey MP and Andrea Jenkyns MP. Additional MPs will join on different days as the March moves down the country.
The Leave Means Leave group said: “This peaceful protest is planned to show the level of popular dissatisfaction, especially outside of London, with the way the Westminster elite are betraying the will of the people over Brexit.”
The itinerary for the 270-mile march includes Middlesbrough, Wetherby and Doncaster. The route features notable gaps, where it appears the campaigners will be transported up to 30 miles from the end of a stage and to the start of the next, instead of walking.
Different marchers are expected to take part in each leg of the route, which is planned to end with a mass rally in Parliament Square.
Leave Means Leave is charging £50 to take part in the March To Leave. Its website says each fee-paying “core marcher” receives an “official March To Leave kit”, while those marching over two or more days will get accommodation, breakfast and dinner, as well as transfers to their accommodation.
When the Chronicle asked why there is a £50 charge, a spokesman said marchers will not have to pay if they join the march for just one day.
It comes as Prime Minister Theresa May prepares to try to persuade MPs for a third time to back her Brexit deal.
The Commons will vote on her withdrawal agreement by March 20, after MPs agreed to ask the EU to delay Brexit beyond the current March 29 departure date.
Tory MPs and the DUP are seeking further legal assurances over the deal.
Cabinet Minister David Lidington said there was “real impatience” in Europe and unless MPs agreed a deal, the EU could seek a delay of more than a year.
European Council President Donald Tusk has said EU leaders could be open to a long extension “if the UK finds it necessary to rethink its Brexit strategy.”
Mr Farage says Theresa May’s Brexit deal is a “horrendous mess” and Britain should ignore the “doom-mongering” and leave at any cost on March 29.