Demonstrators are demanding a new referendum on Britain\u2019s exit from the European Union, though Prime Minister Theresa May has rejected the idea.<\/b>
\nLONDON \u2014 Thousands of Britons took to the streets of Central London on Saturday for a \u201cPeople\u2019s Vote\u201d march, demanding that the government call a new referendum on Britain\u2019s exit from the European Union.
News reports said the rally might draw 100,000 to half a million people for what the event\u2019s website calls \u201cThe Independent March for the Future,\u201d a cross-party, grass-roots campaign by groups such as Britain for Europe, Scientists for EU, Our Future Our Choice, and Wales For Europe & InFacts.
Mayor Sadiq Khan was among those set to address the march, which was to end in Parliament Square, according to The Associated Press.
Organizers expected the protest to be the biggest of its kind, with about 150 buses ferrying thousands of demonstrators from across the country to London.
A petition by the groups has drawn more than 320,000 signatures, with a goal of 350,000 goal. It says:
Footage on the BBC showed throngs of people snaking through the streets.
Demonstrators carried signs with slogans such as: \u201cBrexit: Ugly word, ugly idea.\u201d
Andrew Adonis, a Labour member of the House of Lords, said Saturday that \u201cvoters will neither forgive nor forget\u201d if lawmakers allowed \u201cthis miserable Brexit to proceed without people being given the final say.\u201d
Britons voted to leave the trade bloc by a narrow margin in a 2016 referendum. Prime Minister Theresa May has ruled out another public vote on the subject.
Britain is scheduled to leave the bloc on March 29, but negotiations have been plagued by disagreements, particularly over the issue of the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which will be the United Kingdom\u2019s only land frontier with the European Union after the process known as Brexit.
There are growing fears of a \u201cno deal\u201d exit, which could create chaos at the borders and in the economy.
Mrs. May said at a summit meeting in Brussels this past week that she would consider a longer post-Brexit transition period \u2014 one that could keep Britain aligned to European Union rules and obligations for more than two years after its departure. Pro-Brexit politicians in Britain saw it as an attempt to bind the country to the bloc indefinitely.
With talks stuck, enthusiasm that a deal would be sealed soon appears to be waning, and hope is in such short supply in Britain that some fear that things could turn \u201cgrisly.\u201d Some Britons who fear the worst in March have taken to stockpiling supplies and are known as the country\u2019s band of \u201cBrexit preppers.\u201d
Photos emerging from the talks in Brussels hinted at Britain\u2019s increasing isolation in the talks. One image shared widely on social media showed the leaders of France, Germany and Luxembourg taking a break from negotiations while sitting at a long table where beer, wine and french fries were plentiful \u2014 but the British prime minister was noticeably absent.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany was quoted as telling reporters after the summit meeting: \u201cWhere there is a will there should be a way. We agreed that when sufficient progress has been made we will meet again, but right now it isn\u2019t clear when such a meeting can take place.\u201d
With the weight of a no-deal exit apparently weighing on the minds of the bloc\u2019s 27 other member states, Ms. Merkel, President Emmanuel Macron of France and Prime Minister Xavier Bettel of Luxembourg repaired to a brasserie at the Grand Palace in Brussels on Wednesday.
Ms. Merkel brushed aside a question about how the talks were going: \u201cPlease, it\u2019s a wonderful evening.\u201d
\u201cLet\u2019s not spoil it with that!\u201d she said, according to CNN affiliate N1 .
As for Mr. Bettel, he offered a sage-sounding but cryptic quote: \u201cBelieve me, even though we are politicians, we are also humans,\u201d he said, according to CNN.
\u201cHuman relations are sometimes very important, so we were able to discuss the topics we have today and tomorrow and to do a debriefing on yesterday, and that was good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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