Around 100,000 supporters of the European Union have marched through central London to demand the British government hold a final public vote on the terms of Brexit.
Protesters packed the main arteries of the capital on Saturday, waving British, Irish and European flags and colorful banners to call for a “People’s Vote” on the eventual deal in which Britain leaves the world’s biggest trading bloc, SBS reported.
On the second anniversary of the 52 to 48% Brexit vote, polls show political divisions are entrenched. Despite some confusion over what Brexit will actually mean, there has been no clear change of heart.
The “People’s Vote” campaign, which includes several pro-EU groups, is campaigning for a public ballot “so that we can decide if a decision that will affect our lives for generations makes the country better or worse off”. Neither of Britain’s two main political parties back the idea of holding a referendum on the final deal.
“People have seen politicians making a cataclysmic mess of a really bad deal they didn’t vote for, or even a no deal they didn’t vote for,” a spokesman for the campaign told Reuters. “This is the people telling the political elite that they got it wrong.”
One banner read, “17 million voted for Adolf Hitler. 17 million voted for Brexit. 17 million can be wrong”. One couple carried a placard which read, “We are doing this for our grandchildren.”
A Survation poll earlier this week found that 48% of respondents supported a referendum on the final deal, while 25% were opposed.
As yet there is no certainty about what the final deal could look like amid infighting in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative government as well as among some of its opponents about what they want from Britain’s new trading ties with the EU after it leaves in March next year.
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