'More than 700,000 protesters' and celebrities join second largest protest in UK this century
Sadiq Khan says another referendum is needed because young people's 'future is on the line'
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Your support makes all the difference.An estimated 700,000 people gathered in central London to call for a second referendum on a final Brexit deal.
MPs from across the political spectrum and a slew of famous names took part in the People’s Vote march, sponsored by The Independent as part of its Final Say campaign.
Some 1,000 young activists led the so-called “march for the future” from Park Lane towards a rally in Parliament Square.
There, demonstrators from across the UK heard speeches from household names including television presenter Delia Smith and London mayor Sadiq Khan.
“We were the few, and now we are the many,” Conservative MP Anna Soubry told the crowds at the largest protest in the UK since the 2003 demonstrations over the Iraq war.
“We are winning the argument and we are winning the argument most importantly against those who voted Leave,” she added.
Christian Broughton, editor of The Independent, told marchers: “Theresa May says that the Final Say referendum will be a politicians’ vote, not a people’s vote, but we can all remember what some politicians told us in 2016.
“We, the people, can all now see what’s really coming. And from where I’m standing it looks like a people’s vote to me.”
Nearly 950,000 people have signed The Independent‘s petition urging Theresa May to call a referendum on the final Brexit deal.
Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston said calls for a People’s Vote could ”no longer be ignored” and urged Labour Jeremy Corbyn to back the campaign.
“If we had the whole of the Labour Party, as well as the SNP, the Liberal Demcorats, and obviously a very significant number of my colleagues, we would get it past it,” she said. “We need him to come behind it.”
London mayor Sadiq Khan, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable, and Labour MP Chuka Umunna all addressed the crowd at the march.
In a video message, Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, said: “Let me say this loudly and clearly, if the issue comes before the House of Commons, SNP MPs will support a People’s Vote which includes the option to remain in the EU.”
Read how we covered the march live below.
Please allow a moment for the live blog to load
People's Vote UK, which is organising today's protest, estimates 570,000 people have turned out to demand a vote on a final Brexit deal. This is more than five times the number anticipated.
Protesters have reached Trafalgar Square. They are about to head down Whitehall to Parliament Square, where they will hear speeches.
Credit: Lizzy Buchan
David Mitchell, chairman of the Enfield Liberal Democrat group, said the group of protesters at Saturday's march is twice as many than at the march in June.
The 37-year-old said: “I think it's due partly to how the negotiations have gone in the past six months, but it's also a credit to the European movement who have really got themselves organised.”
He added that he is representing Enfield at today's march.
He said: “Enfield overwhelmingly voted to stay in the EU and we want to make it clear that Enfield is committed to staying in the European Union.
“The polls are showing that we voted to have a go at this process, it hasn't worked, so now the people need to have a say on how we're going with it.
“It's now or never really, we're getting to crunch time.”
PA
The Independent's editor Christian Broughton and Labour's Chuka Umunna among those marching for a second referendum
As the demonstrations continue, Theresa May has been visiting an arts exhibition in her constituency.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn is also in neutral territory — Geneva.
The counter protest in Harrogate is underway where the audience is hearing from speakers including former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, leader of Bro-Brexit campaign group Leave Means Leave, Richard Tice, and Labour MP Kate Hooey.
Ms Hooey said “Our country should always come above our party.
“We shouldn't really be here. We had a clear vote to leave, we know that people knew what they were voting for, even though we are being told people were stupid and racist.
“It is not a question about leave or remain, it is a question of being democratic, or anti-democratic.
“I get very angry when I see the London elite making their views as if they know what is going on in the rest of the country. They should get out of London more.”
Protesters have gathered in Parliament Square where television Richard Bacon has led a chant of: "We demand demand a people's vote".
Television personality and chef Delia Smith told the crowd: "I'm so afraid of what's happening to our beloved country and the people making grave decisions on our behalf.
"When the vote happened, we were not fully informed. Now we know: dire consequences. That can be summed up in two words: Unmitigated chaos."
Sadiq Kahn addresses the crowd in Parliament Square
London mayor Sadiq Khan has said there should be another referendum because young people's "future is on the line".
"What a day, what a turnout," he told the crowd gathered in Parliament Square, describing the event as "an historic moment".
"It was absolutely right that it was young people leading this march because it's their future that's on the line," he said.
"Young people's voices wasn't heard during the EU referendum campaign, but their voices are being heard loud and clear today.
"The government doesn't have a mandate to gamble with our future. Are we going to stand by and let them?"
He was met with shouts of, "No."
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