Almost 700,000 Britons on the streets for new referendum Brexit
In London nearly 700,000 people took part in an anti-Brexit demonstration on Saturday. The demonstrators want a new referendum about the Brexit. According to news agency Reuters, the organizers said that no less than 670,000 people took part. Beforehand, they had announced that they expected 100,000 people.
The demonstrators in London carried European flags and signs with slogans such as “Exit Brexit” and “Bollocks to Brexit”. Many protesters believe that in 2016 they did not know what they were voting for. They state that “they have convinced us of everything and that nothing seems to be right now”. That is why they demand a new referendum on the final Brexit deal, which they want to call a halt. “The decision to leave the EU will affect different generations,” said James McGrory, one of the organizers. The demonstration provoked 670,000 participants according to him. That makes the march immediately the biggest demonstration in Great Britain since the war against Iraq in 2003.
The demonstration led, among other things, to the Palace of Westminster, the British Parliament. The London mayor Sadiq Khan also participated. He tweeted that the march is a “historical moment in our democracy”.
Many young people
A remarkably large number of students also participated in the demonstration of People’s Vote. The organizers had called in particular young people to participate, because their opinion was ignored two years ago, according to People’s Vote. A young demonstrator has a clear message for the British government: “I am 16, Brexit has taken away my future.” Many young people were not allowed to vote at the time of the Brexit referendum in 2016. They think they should also have a chance to cast their votes, as the Brexit determines their future.
The Independent
The demonstration was also supported by the British newspaper The Independent, which launched an online rehearsal for a second Brexit referendum. The text signed by some 900,000 people warns of the “crisis” that will arise when MPs have to vote on a British-European agreement. The people’s representatives must “either decide to make our country poorer, ruin our essential public services and ruin the life chances of the young, or give us all a voice on every Brexit agreement.”
No second referendum
Prime Minister Theresa May, however, will not soon be persuaded to a second referendum: “There will be no second referendum. People voted for the Brexit on 23 June 2016”, it sounded earlier. Yet there are also supporters within her party.
On 29 March next year, the United Kingdom will normally leave the European Union. The British government and the remaining 27 EU countries have not yet succeeded in reaching an agreement. Actually, there should already have been an agreement, but that turned out to be unfeasible.
Source: AFP, Reuters
