EU campaigners have come together to organise a March for Rejoin in London on next year’s Europe Day, with thousands of people already registering their interest.
Adam Poole, 56, from Swindon said the march is an opportunity for the pro-EU movement to tell the world: “We are still here, we are still European and we are still fighting”.
He told The London Economic: “It’s a simple statement: we haven’t gone away and we are not going to go away and it’s an opportunity for us all to get together after the pandemic and celebrate Europe Day.
“It’s important to say to the current government and the rest of the Leave campaign, Dominic Cummings and Nigel Farage: ‘You have not won anything, and it’s not over, not by a long shot. We don’t think what you have done is right, we are not going to get over it and we are going to be here until we are back in the EU.’”
‘Anyone is welcome’
Poole said the event is open to anyone who is open to dialogue about Brexit and the EU: “I am open to anybody and that includes people who changed their minds and people who are genuinely open-minded about the whole issue.
“I think one of the main problems is that people are divided in two polarising groups who aren’t open to dialogue.
“Come along and let the world know that the rejoin movement is here, the pro-EU movement is here and come meet fellow Europeans. I am hoping it will be a positive, fun, family day out.”
He started the UKIN.eu campaigning group in December 2019, in the light of the general election which saw Johnson’s Tory government elected. He said the group has been working on building a referendum campaign to rejoin the EU.
“My background is marketing and I am one of those people that think people like seeing benefits, but the Remain campaign has been focused on the negatives. I decided there is a better way to go about this,” he said.
‘If politicians ignore Brexit issues, we won’t’
At the same time, Peter Corr, 41, from London, was setting up the UK Rejoin the EU group, and both of them have met meanwhile and decided to organise next year’s march.
He told The London Economic: “People’s lives are completely destroyed by Brexit and in my opinion all politicians are completely ignoring it. Every single day we see these stories and have we seen Starmer or Davey talk about it?
“They just go about with the same lines, they are not talking about what we had in the EU, we should go back to what we had before.
He added: “I am hoping to bring attention to rejoining the EU because a lot of people think it’s unrealistic. But in my opinion, it’s something that can happen now if there is political will because it’s hurting so many people every day.
“I don’t understand why politicians don’t jump to this, even if it’s just to get people’s votes, so if they are not going to do anything about it, then I think we have to.”
Corr estimates the march will be “really big” because several pro-EU groups have announced their attendance.
Registration is open until Saturday, 7 May, when the march is scheduled for.
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