An estimated one million demonstrators – and at least one very cute French Bulldog, as seen above – took to the streets in London overnight for the People’s Vote March, calling for the UK’s final Brexit deal to be put to the public.
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Journalist Mariella Frostrup and TV presenter Richard Bacon addressed demonstrators from a stage in Parliament Square, where they announced that the official count of attendees was over a million, and BBC aerial video shows the massive scale of the protest.
#PeoplesVoteMarch organisers say more than a million people joined protests in central London
[tap to expand]https://t.co/KI8HvOednR #Brexit pic.twitter.com/SeD8az1Ev8— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) March 23, 2019
Yeah, those crowds really do just keep going and going.
Can it be true ONE MILLION MARCHERS all calling for a #PeoplesVote Atmosphere is electric!
— Mariella Frostrup (@mariellaf1) March 23, 2019
Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon addressed crowds in Parliament Square, saying that Theresa May and her government have proved “completely incapable” of delivering on the result of 2016’s referendum, and that it’s time for people to have another say. She said:
“This is now the moment of maximum opportunity – we need to avoid both the catastrophe of no-deal and the damage which would be caused by the prime minister’s bad deal. The EU’s decision to postpone things until at least April 12 has opened a window, and those of us who oppose Brexit must seize the chance it offers …”
Hundreds of thousands join #PeoplesVoteMarch in central Londonhttps://t.co/wR1boHZnSc pic.twitter.com/xMQnmPNwug
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) March 23, 2019
Deputy Labour Party leader Tom Watson also addressed crowds, telling Theresa May to “open your curtains, switch on your TV” and saying that another public vote on Brexit is the only way to break the stalemate currently playing out in parliament.
The Prime Minister claims she speaks for Britain. Well, have a look out of the window Prime Minister. Open your curtains. Switch on your TV. Look at this great crowd today. Here are the people. Theresa May: you don’t speak for us. #PutItToThePeople pic.twitter.com/wnKOrtmoO8
— Tom Watson (@tom_watson) March 23, 2019
Protesters carried signs that read “Bollocks To Brexit”, “IKEA Has Better Cabinets” and other similar slogans, and a number of these were left by the gates of parliament.
https://twitter.com/dansabbagh/status/1109510248811909120
The European Union recently agreed to grant the UK a short extension to the Brexit process, but as it stands, if parliament rejects Theresa May’s deal a third time, then it’s highly likely that the UK will drop out of the EU on April 12 with no deal in place.
A petition for the UK to revoke Article 50, which would effectively cancel Brexit, has gathered more than 4.6 million signatures, and group of cross-party MPs are said to be exploring the possibility, but May is sticking to her guns and saying Britain will be leaving no matter what.
The potential fallout from a no-deal Brexit could mean that the UK would be cut off from certain food, medicine and energy supplies, and Ministry of Defence officials recently met in an actual bunker to discuss it. That dog is definitely cute, though.
