CLOSE to one million anti-Brexit protesters will take to the streets of London tomorrow to demand another referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU.
The Put It To The People march comes as a petition on Parliament’s website calling for Article 50 to be revoked has surpassed four million signatures.
Nicola Sturgeon, who will speak at the rally, is expected to call for a lengthy extension to Brexit negotiations to allow a so-called People’s Vote.
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Speaking ahead of the march, the First Minister said: “This is now the moment of maximum opportunity – we need to avoid both the catastrophe of no deal and the damage which would be caused by the Prime Minister’s bad deal.
“The EU’s decision to postpone things until at least April 12 has opened a window, and those of us who oppose Brexit must seize the chance it offers.
“The House of Commons must now take back control from Theresa May and secure a longer extension to the process, to allow time for a new referendum to be held.
“The Prime Minister and her government have proved completely incapable of delivering on the result of the 2016 vote, which is why it is right that this should now go back to the people.”
Next stop London. #PutIttothePeople #StopBrexit @peoplesvote_hq pic.twitter.com/OTybgRPcVO
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) March 23, 2019
Sturgeon is also expected to say Scotland has been “completely ignored by the UK Government throughout the Brexit process”, adding: “That has demolished Tory claims that the UK is a partnership of equals, and is making the case for independence stronger than it has ever been. But whatever Scotland’s future, and I hope and believe it will be an independent one, it is in all of our interests for the UK to be in the EU.”
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Sturgeon is due to speak alongside Conservative peer Michael Heseltine, above, and former attorney general Dominic Grieve as well Labour’s London Mayor Sadiq Kahn and MPs Jess Phillips and David Lammy.
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Edinburgh South Labour MP Ian Murray, who will take part in the march, said he would be there “on behalf of the 78% of voters in Edinburgh South who backed remain”. Murray said: “This is a march to stop the madness of Brexit. The last 1000 days have destroyed trust in politics, and time is now running out to avoid a catastrophic no-deal exit from the EU.
“This national crisis can only be resolved by putting the decision back to the British public.
“It’s heartening that political figures are putting aside their differences for this, and it’s particularly encouraging that Nicola Sturgeon is now willing to share a platform with a Tory.”
Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie added: “The country is at a perilous crossroads and people are deeply concerned. However, Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn still refuse to act in the national interest. It doesn’t need to be this way.”
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