Pro-EU protesters revel in May’s Brexit vote defeat
— Waving European Union flags, hundreds of anti-Brexit activists outside parliament roared with approval on Tuesday as the government’s divorce deal was crushed by MPs.
Massed in front of two big screens airing live coverage of the pivotal vote, the crowd of fervent pro-Europeans erupted into cheers and clapping as the result was relayed.
“I’m so pleased — but a bit concerned with what comes next,” retiree Sarah Cuthbertson, 68, told AFP.
“I didn’t think it would be such a big majority against,” she said of the whopping 230-vote margin of defeat — the largest ever in modern British political history.
Nearby, a smaller contingent of pro-Brexit activists were similarly cheered by the defeat of Prime Minister Theresa May’s deal, but for different reasons.
“I’m ecstatic,” said Reg Kerr-Bell, 55, a retired Londoner clasping a “Leave Means Leave” placard. “No-deal is what I want to see now.” But he conceded that parliament’s rejection of the govern- ment’s plan puts Brexit in some jeopardy.
“I’m very worried they (MPs) might try to hijack the process.”
Deploying flags, floats and even a mock-up of the Titanic dubbed “HMS Brexit,” hundreds of noisy pro- and anti-EU activists had descended on Westminster to make their voices heard ahead of the crunch vote.
“The only thing so far that managed to unite the country has been this deal and how everyone hates it,” Simon Fisher, 25, told AFP, draped in a “Leave Means Leave” flag.
As opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn announced he had filed a no-confidence motion in the government, pro-EU supporters urged him to go further.
“Unless he changes his stance on a second referendum, I don’t think he’ll get people on board,” said Lesley Lacloche, 61, who was draped in EU attire.
Some waved signs and placards like “Don’t Let May Betray the U.K.” and “Stop the Brexit Mess.”