Around 1,500 people marched through central London on Saturday, calling for the UK to rejoin the European Union and branding Brexit a 'travesty' a decade after the referendum. Police officers in Whitehall estimated the crowd size as demonstrators gathered at Temple station before proceeding to Parliament Square beneath a banner reading 'We Want Our Star Back'.
Participants and Motivations
The National Rejoin March (NRM) featured participants carrying EU flags, wearing blue and yellow hats, and T-shirts emblazoned with 'Citizen of Europe' and 'Re:Union'. The UK voted to leave the EU in a June 2016 referendum called by then-Prime Minister David Cameron.
Madeleine Kay, 32, a newlywed trying to move from Sheffield to Germany to join her husband Johann, said: 'I think Brexit was a travesty for the United Kingdom and it has also had a personal impact on me, a huge amount. I want to see a better future for everyone in the UK, but especially those young people who did not get a say in the referendum. It is really important that we make our cause visible. The more that we campaign, the closer we will get to the ultimate goal which is being a member of the EU again.' She cited impacts on the economy, trade, small businesses, rights, freedoms, and even holiday travel.
Banners and Sentiments
Homemade banners included one shaped like a lollipop reading 'Brexit sucks', while others proclaimed 'I don’t want to take my country back, I want to take my country forward' and 'Re Join EU for trade and jobs'. A banner from Croydon for Europe read 'The UK should be more like Crystal Palace, Champions of Europe'.
Arttu Rajantie, a Finnish theoretical physicist living in Reading and working in London, held a 'Scientists for EU' banner. He said Brexit had 'a big effect' on scientific research, leading to loss of access to European funding and freedom of movement. 'We can’t recruit young European researchers in the same way as we could because they have got 27 countries where they can go without any barriers whereas to come to Britain, they have to get a visa. There is high cost and high bureaucracy. It is very complicated and so they just choose to go elsewhere,' he explained.
Organiser’s Perspective
NRM organiser Clare Hall said: 'I would just like to see full rejoin – I don’t feel like we have got nothing to lose.' She argued that the past decade has shown Brexit was bad, adding: 'It was all based on immigration, and that has been proved to be absolute nonsense, freedom of movement has been stripped away.' She noted that 'life has got harder,' shopping is more expensive, and there is red tape getting food into the country, expressing concern for the younger generation who are set 'to pay the price of this'.
