Opposition to Brexit
The first March for Europe took place in London on 2 July 2016, shortly after the Brexit referendum on 23 June 2016, and was attended by thousands of people.
[7] The event began with a march from Hyde Park and was followed by speeches in Parliament Square,[8] emceed by British adventurer Graham Hughes.
[10] Over 50,000 people took to the streets under the banner "Unite, Rethink, Reject Brexit" marching from Hyde Park to Parliament Square[11] followed by a rally with speakers from the remain movement and from across the political spectrum and received broad media coverage.
The event consisted of a rally followed by a march through central Manchester, and finishing with a street party organised by local pro-EU groups.
Speakers included Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable, Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas, Labour's David Lammy and the Conservatives' Anna Soubry.
[24] Thousands marched through Liverpool on 23 September 2018 during the annual Labour Party conference in protest against leaving the EU.
[25] Another march against Brexit took place in Birmingham starting from Victoria Square on 30 September 2018 during the annual Conservative Party conference.
"[30] A number of celebrities, including Delia Smith, Ian McEwan, Sir Patrick Stewart and Charlie Mullins, stated that they would fund coach travel to London, to enable those wishing to attend the march to do so.
The organisers suggested that a million people took part; independent verification by experts in crowd estimation put the figure at between 312,000 and 400,000.
Organisers estimated a million people attended the march,[40] whose purpose was to demand a confirmatory referendum on the terms of withdrawal.
[42][43] In March 2018 six national groups moved into a shared Remain office in Millbank Tower, London, in order to pool their resources for campaigning.
Its advisory board included former Chief Executive of the NHS in England Nigel Crisp, former Minister for Health John Bowis, former Chief Medical Officer for Scotland Harry Burns, former President of the Royal College of Physicians Ian Gilmore, President of Royal College of Psychiatrists Simon Wessely, and the editor of The Lancet, Richard Horton.
[63][64] Shortly before the 2017 general election, Healthier IN the EU and Vote Leave Watch organised an open letter calling on the Conservative Party to commit to spending an extra £350m per week on the NHS after Brexit.
Following the publication of the letter, foreign secretary Boris Johnson received negative press coverage for falsely claiming that the pledge was already in the Conservative Party election manifesto.
[45][67] Wales for Europe is an independent organisation, but was a founding member of People's Vote through its partnership with Open Britain.
[79] In February 2018 George Soros's Open Society Foundations donated £500,000 to a number of groups opposing Brexit including £35,000 to Scientists for EU.
[67] Right to Vote was a group of Conservative, Change UK and Independent MPs and Peers who advocate holding a referendum on the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
[89] The petition was later referenced by Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, who warned that the UK Government "cannot betray the six million people".
10 Vigil campaign group, which holds regular demonstrations outside Downing Street, organized a boat trip on the Thames on 19 August 2017.
