Thousands of people in London demonstrated as part of the People’s Vote March on Saturday, asking the government for a new referendum on the United Kingdom’s split from the European Union, the New York Times reported in a recent article.
It was the largest display of public government opposition since the anti-Iraq war protest in 2003, according to the Guardian. Nonetheless, the British government has said there will be no second vote.
In 2016, Britons voted to leave the European Union; leave won by 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent for stay. The deadline for the negotiating process is set for March 29, 2019, at which point the UK will withdraw from the EU, whether there is a formal agreement or not.
In the meantime, Prime Minister Theresa May was tasked with negotiating the withdrawal terms with European officials. May was in Belgium last week for the EU summit to discuss the agreement. However, her critics point out that she has little to show after lengthy negotiations.
Some pro-Brexiters were also upset when May suggested last week that the transition period after March 2019 could be extended past the original December 2020 deadline. During the transition time, the UK and EU relationship will largely stay the same as officials smooth over the new policies.
The estimated 700,000 people who participated in the march, and others who also support a second referendum, say that the first vote happened too quickly and there was little detail about what an exit from EU membership would actually looks like.
“The Brexit process is a mess and the negotiations are going badly, which makes it more likely that we will get a bad deal,” the People’s Vote website states. “We know far more now and what leaving will mean than we did at the referendum.”
Those on the other side argue that holding another referendum would undermine the values of democracy; the people have already voted, they say.
Some of the main issues complicating the divorce are Northern Ireland’s border, EU and UK citizenship, and business and trade relations between the two entities.
Additionally, some Britons fear that if no deal is struck by March, it would leave the country without proper trade regulations with the EU, resulting in a supply cut. Some have already started stockpiling food and water, prepping just in case.
In summary, with the official withdrawal in just five short months, neither the UK nor the EU knows what a Brexit will look like.
Photo: People’s Voice march in London in June 2018. Source: Wikimedia Commons/ Ilovetheeu.
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