The People’s Vote march: when, where and why it is happening

With Brexit negotiations hanging by a thread after yet another week of deadlocked talks, there are growing calls for the public to be given a second People’s Vote on the final terms of the deal.

Demonstrators from across the country are expected to descend on London this weekend to demand a referendum on the final agreement, in what is expected to be the biggest Brexit protest to date.

The People’s Vote campaign is claiming that its upcoming “March for the Future” will be “the most important protest of our generation”, following a previous march in June, which was attended by tens of thousands of people.

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Why are people marching?

The People’s Vote is a grass-roots campaign backed by various groups including Open Britain and Britain for Europe. The activists are demanding that political leaders “sit up and take notice” of the people who want a second vote on the final terms of Brexit.

A statement by the organisers on the campaign website says: “Whether you voted Leave or Remain, nobody voted to make this country worse off, to harm jobs, to damage the NHS, to affect the future of millions of young people, or to make this country more divided. The more the shape of the final Brexit deal becomes clear, the more it is clear that it will do nothing to improve social justice, reduce inequality, increase our standard of living, or create a better future for future generations.”

According to a new analysis of almost 150 polls, a majority of people in the UK now want the country to stay in the European Union. The study, carried out by YouGov on behalf of the London Evening Standard, assessed responses to four questions regularly asked in Brexit surveys and revealed a steady shift towards Remain.

Anthony Wells, YouGov’s director of political research, said: “The weight of evidence means that we can be as good as certain that, at least as far as the polls are concerned, Remain is now ahead of Leave.

“Between them, the four trackers have asked the question 61 times this year, and 57 of them were Remain.”

A People’s Vote “is a democratic demand to allow our voices to be heard on the final Brexit deal”, says The New European. It “would also give the country an option to stay in the European Union to avoid Brexit altogether”, adds the anti-Brexit newspaper.

So far more than 860,000 people have signed The Independent's petition calling for a second vote, with march organisers predicting numbers on Saturday could run to the hundreds of thousands.

When and where will the march take place?

Protesters will assemble on Saturday 20 October from 12pm on London’s Park Lane, at a meeting point just north of the Hilton Hotel. They will then march to Parliament Square, where a rally and speeches will take place from approximately 2pm.

A shorter march is also taking place from Trafalgar Square. Further details about accessibility arrangements on the organiser’s website.

Who is speaking?

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is set to speak at the rally in Parliament Square on Saturday.

Talking to The Sun this week, he said: “The Government is taking us towards either a bad Brexit deal or - worse still - no deal at all. Both these scenarios are a million miles from what was promised.

“People didn’t vote to make themselves poorer, to damage our NHS or to put jobs at risk. As Mayor of London, I am proud to welcome everyone joining the March for the Future and to add my voice to the calls for a public vote.”

Other speakers include Dragon's Den star Deborah Meaden, chef and TV host Delia Smith, Conservative MPs Anna Soubry and Sarah Wollaston, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, Labour MP Chuka Umunna and Lib Dem leader Vince Cable.

How are protesters getting there?

Grass-roots groups are organising transport to the march from all over the UK.

Celebrity chef Delia Smith, author Ian McEwan and actor Patrick Stewart “have been named as some of those set to pay upwards of £1,000 each for coach travel for the protest later this month”, says The Independent. A total of more than two dozen celebrities have agreed to sponsor coaches to take people to London.

Smith, who is sponsoring a coach from East Anglia, says she is “petrified” by the direction Brexit is taking. She said: “I’m afraid the political leaders have made a dog’s dinner of it, and none of us really trust them any more to take final decision - whatever the result of the negotiations.

“That’s why, on October 20, I want to make sure East Anglian voices are heard calling for a People’s Vote in the streets around Westminster.”

The actor and comedian Steve Coogan, another celebrity who is contributing money to coach hire, told The Independent that a People’s Vote is not about “ignoring the will of the people or downplaying the democratic decision of 2016”, saying that democracy is an ongoing process.