-No deal Brexit is now more likely than ever
Sentiments towards seeking alternatives to Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit is on the rise at a time when May’s future as prime minister hangs in the balance.
With the U.K. public tiring of the process, an undesirable no deal scenario looks more likely. On Saturday afternoon, up to a million people took to the streets of London demanding a people’s vote on the final deal after London and Brussels agreed to a short extension to the Brexit date. The demonstration was the largest anti-Brexit protest the country has seen and one of the largest overall, as people from all over the country traveled to London to voice their opposition to Brexit and its handling by the government.
A large number of MPs and public figures were at the march, including Anna Soubry of the Independent Group, Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green Party, Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, and special guest Tom Watson, deputy leader of the Labour party.
“The current impasse is not working for people who voted to leave or people who voted to stay. I really don’t think parliament will be able to resolve this,” Watson said in a statement.
“That’s why I’ve come to the reluctant view that the only way to resolve this and have legitimacy in the eyes of the public is for the people themselves to sign it off.”
The demonstration was organized by a plethora of movements, such as the People’s Vote Campaign, Another Europe is Possible, LabourSay, and Our Future Our Choice, all campaigning for a second referendum on the U.K.’s relationship with the European bloc.
More than five million people this week signed an online petition calling for Article 50 to be revoked and for Brexit to be canceled, crashing the petition’s servers several times in the process. Last weekend, there were rumors that the Conservatives were plotting to oust Theresa May, however, so far there is no clear statement from Number 10 signaling such an intention. It is highly unlikely that May will resign even if Parliament rejects her deal for the third time. There is an increasing expectation that the U.K. will leave the union with no deal by April 12 at the end unless an alternative road is chosen.