Saturday’s People’s Vote march in London saw around a million protesters calling for a second referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU.
The protest – the largest in the UK since the march against war in Iraq in 2003 – was organised by the People’s Vote campaign and featured speakers including Tom Watson, the Labour deputy leader; former Conservative deputy leader Lord Heseltine; Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon; and Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London. Khan told protesters: “There is no time left for further negotiations; and the prime minister has wasted the good will of our European neighbours with her chaotic and confused approach. Those who wanted to help us secure a good deal for both sides now just want the process to end.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn drew criticism from Remain campaigners for failing to attend the march despite the Labour party’s tentative commitment to campaign for a second referendum; protesters chanted “where’s Jeremy Corbyn?”. Corbyn, who has attracted censure from Remain-leaning Labour members and supporters for his perceived support of Brexit, was attending a local election campaign event in Morecambe. Sir Keir Starmer, Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary, told the BBC’s Andrew Marr on Sunday that “there must be a public vote…that needs to be between a credible leave option and remain”.
An online petition to revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit altogether has garnered over 5.5 million signatures; Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom said last week that Parliament would not seriously consider the petition until it had accrued 17.4 million signatures, corresponding with the number of people who voted to leave the EU in 2016. The petition has gained the most signatures on the parliamentary petitions website, overtaking the previous highest: a 2016 petition calling for a second referendum, which achieved 4.15 million signatures.
MPs will debate the UK’s next steps on Brexit this evening, with votes scheduled on the possibility of Parliament taking control of the agenda from the government and holding “indicative votes” on a range of options to determine the least unpopular approach. Options are likely to include a “soft Brexit” wherein the UK remains in a customs union with the EU, a second referendum and a no-deal Brexit.
After extensive negotiations conducted by the remaining 27 EU Member States resulted in a nominal extension to Article 50 last week, the UK parliament now has until 12 April to either agree to leave the EU without a deal in place, approve May’s withdrawal agreement – which has twice failed to pass a vote in the House of Commons – or request a longer extension to Article 50 contingent on the UK’s participation in the European elections in May, potentially by promising to hold either a general election or a second referendum.
