Hundreds of thousands of people travel to London to request a second vote on Brexit

LONDON / BELFAST (Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of European Union supporters marched in London Saturday as part of the biggest protest so far to call on the British government to vote publicly on Brexit conditions .

Protesters waved the EU's blue and gold flag and waved "Bollocks to Brexit" banners under sunny skies to ask for a new referendum on possible agreement on how Britain would leave the largest trading block in the world.

The march comes after another tumultuous week for Prime Minister Theresa May, who failed to reach a divorce agreement with European leaders in Brussels and exasperated members of her own party by making further concessions when talks.

There are only five months left before the departure of Great Britain. It is unclear what a future trade deal with the EU will look like, and some rebels in May's conservative party have threatened to vote against an agreement if it concludes one.

James McGrory, one of the organizers of the march, said that voters should have the opportunity to change their minds because this decision will impact their lives for generations.

"People think the Brexit negotiations are a total disaster, they do not trust the government to keep the promises that have been made, partly because they can not be kept," he said. declared.

During the demonstration, protesters carried placards saying "Brexit is pants", "It's time for the EU to turn around" and "European and proud".

According to the organizers, about 700,000 people took part in the march, making it the biggest protest in Britain since a demonstration against the war in Iraq in 2003.

The "People's Vote" campaign, which includes several pro-European groups, indicated that stewards were stationed at regular intervals to gauge the size of the crowd. The police did not provide an independent estimate of the number of participants.

The protesters initially gathered near Hyde Park, then crossed Downing Street and stopped in front of the parliament, where they listened to politicians from all major political parties.

The 2016 British referendum saw 52% of the votes in favor of the exit of the European Union. But the last two years have been politically difficult, with the government struggling to agree on a plan and fearing that Britain will leave the bloc without an agreement.

Some opinion polls have shown a slight change in favor of keeping in the European Union, but mentalities still need to change radically and many Britons say that they are getting bored of more in addition to Brexit.

The Prime Minister has repeatedly ruled out the holding of a second referendum. Opposition Labor Party spokesman Brexit said last month that his party was open to a second referendum with the option of staying in the bloc under certain circumstances.

In Belfast, Northern Ireland, about 2,000 people rallied on Saturday to oppose Brexit.

Brendan Heading, a 39-year-old computer scientist, said he feared that the decision to leave the EU would harm the economy and lead to the break-up of the United Kingdom. United.

"I think Brexit threatens prosperity and stability," he said. "People should have the opportunity to vote for an alternative based on what we know now."

Brexit supporters organized their own rally in the city of Harrogate, in the north of England.

Richard Tice, vice president of Leave Means Leave and one of the speakers at the event, described London attendees as "losers" and said that a second referendum would trigger a constitutional crisis .

"We had a vote, we voted to leave, the idea of ​​holding a second referendum would be extremely detrimental," he said.

"People should not be fooled by what they think of what represents a huge potential for total betrayal of democracy in this country."