Chanting slogans like “What do we want to do? Stay in the EU!” thousands marched through central London Saturday to protest the United Kingdom’s vote last month to exit the European Union. The protesters said the British Parliament should overrule Britons’ 52-48 percent vote in favor of leaving, which has been dubbed “Brexit.”
“We can prevent Brexit by refusing to accept the referendum as the final say and take our finger off the self-destruct button,” said rally organizer Kieran MacDermott, a King’s College graduate, according to Reuters.
The vote shocked many in the country, who fear the economic repercussions from leaving the European common market. Dismay was particularly strong in London, where 60 percent voted in favor of remaining.
“I was genuinely stunned on the morning after the vote. I feel deeply uncertain about my future,” north London resident Nathaniel Samson told the U.K. Daily Mirror. “I’m on the march to voice my discontentment.”
The vote has caused political turmoil as well. Prime Minister David Cameron, who opposed Brexit, said he would resign after the result. That has set off a scramble among members of his ruling Conservative party to succeed him. Most of the members of the opposition Labour Party, which also opposed leaving the EU, have called on their leader, Jeremy Corbyn, to resign as well, arguing he did too little to prevent the result.
Stateside, President Obama, another Brexit critic, has backed away from his earlier statement that the U.K. would have to go to the “back of the queue” on negotiating trade deals if it approved the referendum.
