Brexit march London: Thousands hit London's streets for People's Vote rally

Protesters calling for a second referendum on the Brexit deal have gathered in London for a mass demonstration billed as the biggest public protest on the UK's withdrawal from Europe to date.

A march to Parliament Square, where a rally will be held later this afternoon, is under way.

Coachloads of people arrived in Park Lane for the midday start of the march organised by the People's Vote campaign.

More than 100,000 activists were expected for the event.

The march set off led by young voters and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Aerial footage showed huge crowds gathered in central London for the start of the march
Sky News

Prime Minister Theresa May has repeatedly ruled out such a referendum.

The march set off at around 1pm on Saturday led by young voters and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan

But people have arrived in London from across the UK to urge the Government to give people a vote on the final deal.

Young voters started the march holding a banner demanding a people's vote on the Brexit deal

Hundreds shared their journeys to the capital online using the hashtag #PeoplesVoteMarch as anticipation mounted for the huge demonstration.

Speakers at the rally will include TV cook Delia Smith, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Vince Cable and MPs Anna Soubry and Chuka Umunna.

MPs from across all the main political parties are supporting the demonstration.

People arrived in London from all over the UK for the march

This includes Labour MP Mr Umunna, Tory MPs Sarah Wollaston and Ms Soubry, Lib Dem leader Sir Vince and Green Party MP Caroline Lucas.

Meanwhile, former UKIP leader Nigel Farage is leading a pro-Brexit rally at Harrogate Convention Centre later.

Pauline Korda came from Oxford for the march

Pauline Korda came from Oxford for the march and said she was one of many from there.

"I've never seen Oxford park and ride so full," she said. "I got the last seat on the bus."

She added: "It's wonderful. They've got to listen. I wouldn't have missed this for the world."#

Dolores Ehelihe, 29, Taha Abrar, 25 and Sarah-Jane Gay (L-R) made their own signs for the march

Dolores Ehelihe, 29, Taha Abrar, 25 and Sarah-Jane Gay spoke to the Standard as they were making signs for the march.

Mr Abrar said: "I feel like it's the last chance to say something. It's good to see so many kids here. It's their future."

People's Vote protesters march on Parliament Square - in Pictures

1/44

Ms Ehelihe said: "I feel like people voted on a situation that they didn't know what they were voting for.

"Since then we know a little better."

Some 150 coachloads of people from throughout the UK were expected at the march.

Some were sponsored by celebrities including Years & Years singer Olly Alexander and actor Patrick Stewart.

With some travelling to the capital from as far away as Orkney, many started their journeys in the early hours of Friday morning.

Protesters documented their journeys online as they travelled for more than 30 hours.

The so-called People's Vote is the idea of another vote on the final Brexit deal, which would likely take the form of another referendum.

Many believe the UK is heading for a no deal or bad deal Brexit - which they say is not what the country voted for in June 2016.

The People’s Vote is a grassroots campaign with support from across the political spectrum. It has more than a million social media followers and is growing every day.

The march follows a turbulent week for Brexit talks. The Prime Minister travelled to Brussels to address leaders of the the EU27 countries - but she took flack for "offering nothing new" after calls for her to bring creative ideas to end the logjam in negotiations.

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said: "There was a message of goodwill and readiness to reach an agreement, but I didn't perceive anything substantially new in terms of content as I listened to Mrs May."

The march follows a previous People's Vote demonstration in July which also attracted thousands.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in