UK: Tens of thousands march for Brexit deal referendum

By Muhammad Mussa

LONDON

Tens of thousands people took to the streets of London on Saturday afternoon demanding a referendum on the final deal between London and Brussels over the U.K. leaving the EU.

The protest included MPs such as Anna Soubry of the Conservative Party, Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green Party, David Lammy of the Labour Party, and Vince Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats Party.

The demonstration was organized by the People’s Vote Campaign, a pro-EU organization that is campaigning for a second referendum on the U.K.’s relationship with the EU.

With organizers estimating turnout at 100,000, the demonstration was the largest anti-Brexit protest the country has seen and one of the largest overall.

The procession of pro-EU campaigners and Remainers began in central London and ended at Parliament Square outside the Houses of Parliament.

“I think Brexit is a huge mistake,” a demonstrator named Mark told Anadolu Agency. “I think the referendum was effectively hijacked and I think nobody seems to be challenging the referendum result, and I would actually challenge the whole result of the referendum.”

Mark said it was a “shame” that the pro-EU Conservative MPs had backtracked on their amendments in last week’s vote in the House of Commons that would have given parliament a say on the final deal.

“The other problem is that we have a Labour leader who is pro-Brexit because he wants to nationalize everything, so we don’t have a strong voice from the opposition,” Mark said, referring to the Labour head, Jeremy Corbyn.

'Not citizens of nowhere'

Also taking part in the march was Gina Miller, the businesswoman who launched a legal challenge against the government's refusal to give parliament the authority to approve Brexit.

“All of you who love Britain, who have come from all walks of life, from across this country, from across Europe, to demand a people’s vote on the final options,” Miller told crowds of cheering supporters.

“You deserve to be proud because you are here, you’ve stepped up and you’re shouting and we’re standing in the shadow of that building before parliament and our job today that we, from all walks of life, are not happy with them,” she added.

“We are not citizens of nowhere,” Liberal Democrat MP Vince Cable told the crowds, adding that “we are citizens from every part of this country, this is a national movement demanding a people’s vote”.

There was a counter-demonstration by supporters of Brexit, but numbering only in the hundreds to a thousand, dwarfed by the pro-referendum march.