What's done is done. The vote is in. Brexit is happening. Not sure what these folks are doing anyway.
If anything, these pointless protests weakens the U.K's hand at the negotiation table with the E.U
Thousands Protest in London Against Brexit
Organizers claim 50,000 people attended march to protest against the U.K. leaving the EU
By Nicholas Winning
July 2, 2016
LONDON—Several thousand people marched through central London on Saturday to protest against the U.K. leaving the European Union after a national
vote last week to exit the bloc.
Outgoing Prime Minister
David Cameron has said the referendum result—where about 52% voted to leave the EU—will be respected, and the government has begun laying the groundwork for what are expected to be several years of complicated negotiations to extricate the U.K. from the bloc.
The five candidates hoping to succeed Mr. Cameron as leader of the governing Conservative Party and prime minister when he steps down in the fall—two of which supported staying in the EU—have also said they accepted the result.
Nevertheless, some of the protesters who took to the streets of London on Saturday said they still held out hope that the government wouldn’t go through with it, and would remain in the EU. Some on the march voiced anger at what they said were lies in the referendum campaign—others said that while they accepted the result, it was still important to show that not everyone agreed with it.
Margaret Murray, a 63-year-old retired teacher said it would be political suicide for any leader to try to overturn the referendum—in which 17.4 million voted to leave and 16.1 million backed remaining—but
she hoped the economic repercussions would be so bad that the government wouldn’t go through with it.
“I think there’s a certain element of the population that thinks you can’t overturn the democratic will, however, I think it’s also important to not lie down, keep quiet, and forget about it. I think it’s important that large numbers of people make their voice heard,” she said.
The demonstration, dubbed “March for Europe,” was organized on
Facebook by various small pressure groups. On their dedicated Facebook page, organizers said they could prevent a so-called Brexit by refusing to accept the referendum.
“Let’s not leave the next generation adrift. We can provide the ammunition parliament needs to reason their way through this mess and reconsider Brexit, if we make a stand!” it said.
A spokeswoman for the organizers said some 50,000 people attended the march. Police declined to give an estimate.
After the march, organizers issued a statement condemning what they characterized as misinformation during the referendum campaign and called on politicians to provide a clear road map for a partnership with Europe.
“Politicians must be prepared to put to the British people their prospectus for the new way forward through a general election or second referendum,” they said.
London Police said no arrests had been made during the march or at the subsequent gathering on the square in front of the parliament buildings.
There was a light police presence, with a ring of officers standing around the parliament perimeter fence and two police helicopters hovering overhead.
Speakers including Irish rock star and anti-famine campaigner Bob Geldof—who campaigned for the U.K. to stay in the EU—and others addressed the crowd in the summer sunshine. The protesters strained to hear the speakers from a platform at one end of the square, waving banners that read “I heart EU,” “Eunity not hate” and “Fromage not Farage” a reference to Nigel Farage, the leader of the anti-EU UK Independence Party.
Oly Brunskill, a 23-year-old student, doubted the demonstration would change the result but said it was important for people to show they still supported aspects of EU membership, such as freedom of movement and access to the European single market. People were stunned by the vote and in a state of grief, he said.
“It’s quite a cathartic march—I think people are very disillusioned with the nation right now,” he said. “It’s a bit of a cliché, but I believe we are better together, stronger together, and it’s a shame it turned out this way.”
It remains unclear whether the march in London marks the beginning of a concerted effort to overturn the vote, which has been broadly accepted by lawmakers from across the political spectrum.
A handful of lawmakers have suggested Britons should have the opportunity to reverse the decision in a second referendum or general election once the eventual terms of the U.K.’s exit from the bloc are set.
Geraint Davies, a lawmaker for the opposition Labour Party, presented a motion in parliament this week calling for a referendum on agreeing the terms of the U.K.-EU exit package or on remaining in the EU. The motion, which is not binding, has been backed by four other lawmakers, though there is little sign that it is garnering wider support.
Some have also suggested that parliament, as the ultimate arbiter of policy, needs to give its consent before the government can trigger Article 50, the formal process for exiting the EU.
“Our democracy does not allow, much less require, decision-making by referendum. That role belongs to the representatives of the people and not to the people themselves,” Geoffrey Robertson, a leading human rights lawyer, wrote in the Guardian newspaper on Monday. “By November, there may be other very good reasons for [lawmakers] to refuse to leave Europe. Brexit may turn out to be just too difficult.”
Some of the protesters said the misinformation during the campaign, particularly on the “leave” side, left the referendum result open to question.
“I don’t think it is a valid decision and I think the campaign was based on a lot of false promises, lies,” said Robert Phillips, a 45-year-old photographer.
His friend, George Forth, a 42-year-old project manager, said leaving the EU just felt wrong, for the people, for the economy, for the country, and for business.
“In the world we are this tiny little island that used to be important,” he said. “It’s laughable to think that we have any power. We are nothing without the rest of Europe.”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/thousands-protest-in-london-against-brexit-1467478717
