Brexit march: Tens of thousands take to London streets to demand new referendum on terms of EU departure

Tens of thousands of pro-EU protesters have taken to the streets of London to demand a referendum on the terms of Brexit, two years on from the vote.

The march began its trail from Pall Mall to Parliament Square, filling the capital’s streets with swathes of EU flags and banners and creating a sea of yellow and blue down Whitehall.

Anti-Brexit marchers travelled from across the country to join the rally, organised by a number of Westminster-based and grassroots lobbying groups and marks the launch of a nationwide petition for a “people’s vote”.

The protest is the biggest since the 2016 vote to leave the EU, with organisers saying more than 100,000 people attended.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable told the crowds Brexit was “not a done deal” and could be reversed, while Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas told the crowd that Brexit “will be a disaster for this country”.

Ms Lucas, actor and former Labour NEC member Tony Robinson and pro-EU campaigner Gina Miller were also among those who joined the crowd in the capital on the second anniversary of the EU vote.

Vie Lusanda, a French national who suffered a racist attacked along with her young son on a train in April, was among the crowds, and said she felt “bitter and angry” about the Brexit situation.

Welsh Labour MP Stephen Doughty, also at the march, tweeted: “Incredible scenes at People’s Vote march with cross-party colleagues and tens of thousands of people from every part of Britain and every walk of life demanding a vote on the Brexit deal.”

People’s Vote campaigners said this represented a shift in their lobbying away from Westminster and towards building public support for a second referendum.

They are planning a “summer of action” with events across the country designed to foster opposition to Brexit and put pressure on the government to give the public more of a say.

MPs are expected to vote on the final Brexit deal in the autumn, with the government having repeatedly insisted that leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement remains a possibility.

The march comes as a survey of voters found some 48 per cent wanted a referendum on the final deal, against 25 per cent who did not want another vote.

On the same day, Boris Johnson urged Theresa May to deliver a “full British Brexit” as cabinet colleague Liam Fox said the UK was not “bluffing” about being prepared to walk away from talks with Brussels.

International trade secretary Dr Fox claimed the economic impact of a “no deal” Brexit on EU members would be “severe”, while foreign secretary Mr Johnson said people would not tolerate a “bog-roll Brexit” that was “soft, yielding and seemingly infinitely long”.

Research by the Centre for European Reform (CER) think tank meanwhile indicated Brexit had already made the UK economy 2.1 per cent weaker than it would have been if voters had decided to stay in the EU.