Thousands attend anti-Brexit rally in London

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Europe

Thousands of anti-Brexit people marched in Westminster, central London on Saturday to protest Britain’s impending withdrawal from the European Union (EU).

In one of the largest marches of the year, organizers estimated at least 50,000 protesters took part in the demonstration before converging on Parliament Square for a rally.

Screenshot from Peoplesmarch4eu.com

A grassroots organization campaigning for continued UK membership in the EU, The People’s March For Europe launched this event via social media and to the streets with the message “Unite, rethink and reject Brexit”

Organizers said leaving the EU “no longer holds credibility inside Westminster, let alone on the streets of Britain”.

AFP Photo

Pro-EU supporter Sir Bob Geldof, actor Sir Patrick Stewart and Tony Blair’s former spin-doctor, Alastair Campbell, are among those who have backed the event.

Demonstrators gathered outside the parliament building dressed in the EU's blue and yellow colors waving EU flags.

AFP Photo

The march came ahead of a vote on Monday where members of parliament (MP) review a bill that would overturn the act that made the UK a member of the EU, ending the supremacy of EU law in the United Kingdom.

Sir Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat MP for Kingston and Surbiton, told the crowd he was “embarrassed” for Great Britain. He said “I’ve gone from anger to distress, from fury to despair. But since the Brexit negotiations begun there’s a third emotion I’ve been feeling, embarrassment.”

AFP Photo

“Embarrassment at our country’s leaders. Embarrassment for Great Britain.”

Tory peer Baroness Patience Wheatcroft called for demonstrators to keep fighting to stay in the EU.

AFP Photo

"We have to stop Brexit. Since we joined the EU we've had an unprecedented period of peace and prosperity. It must be right to try and maintain that”, she said.

"It's not undemocratic to try to persuade the electorate to think again about Brexit. That's democracy at work."

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