Upward of a Million March Against Brexit in London
Opposition to Britain's plan to leave the European Union continues to increase as PM Theresa May's government and Parliament spar over an exit strategy. An online petition on Parliament's website calling for Brexit to be revoked has garnered more than 4 million signatures and yesterday almost 1 million demonstrators gathered in London to call for a new Brexit referendum. And speakers from across the political spectrum encouraged May and Parliament to change course before "crashing out" of the Union became the only option.
The Independent: "At the march, Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, used his address to call for Article 50 to be revoked, saying: “The British people didn’t vote for the government to gamble on our future, the British people didn’t vote for the national nightmare that’s been created."
”MPs from five political parties – Labour, Conservatives, Green, Liberal Democrats and the SNP – appeared on the stage together, alongside Anna Soubry from The Independent Group."
"They urged their parliamentary colleagues to back any vote for a second referendum and “put country first”, as Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister and SNP leader, claimed the prime minister had pitched “parliament against the people”.
Brexiters claim that they are following the will of the people as expressed in the first referendum, but that vote was held without a great deal of information about the real consequences of leaving the EU. Those that seek a second referendum point out that as more has become known about the negative ramifications of leaving that public opinion has changed and that the debate should continue. Will Saturday's huge turnout in London matter?
The Guardian: " ... this march mattered in the simple and fundamental way that mass marches always matter: as a reminder to those who make decisions in their name that democracy is not a settled state, but a shifting expression of collective will. As one little girl’s sign had it: “The people are STILL speaking”.