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Anti-Brexit rally: Tens of thousands marched through central London on Saturday demanding a second referendum.
Planned vote: British PM Theresa May has days to convince lawmakers to back her Withdrawal Agreement, but she’s admitted a vote may not take place if it has insufficient support.
Calls to resign: May is also facing calls to quit as unrest grows at the end of a tumultuous week.
As the speeches end and protesters file away from Parliament Square, here is a roundup of the day’s main developments.
“It’s been over 10 years since I have been on a march,” said Naomi Penfold, 29, from Cambridge.
“Normally Brits stay quiet and grumble but with Brexit there is too much at stake.”
Labour deputy leader Tom Watson has implored Theresa May to “have a look out of the window” and “look at this great crowd today” in a tweet following his speech in Parliament Square.
Former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine criticized Theresa May in a speech in Parliament Square.
“The Prime Minister herself bears a heavy personal responsibility for our current crisis,” he said, adding that her criticism of MPs last Wednesday was an “affront to parliamentary democracy.”
Generals who lose wars blame their troops, managers who break their companies blame the workers, said Heseltine.
“Now we can add: Prime ministers who lose elections blame their MPs,” he said, before calling for a second referendum.
“One way or another, you the people must decide. You the people must be free to vote to remain.”
Private equity director Jonty Graham, 35, and PR executive Charlotte Graham, 32, are attending the protest with their daughters Poppy, 5 and Tilly, 4.
“We are sleepwalking towards disaster,” Jonty Graham told CNN.
“I have lots of friends who I play with who are French and Spanish and I like playing with them,” said Tilly.
The Independent Group, a cross-party bloc of rebel anti-Brexit MPs, has posted a time-lapse video showing the crowd in Parliament Square.
MP Anna Soubry, who recently left the Conservative party to join a breakaway cross-party bloc known as the Independent Group, spoke to crowds in Parliament Square.
In a video posted on Twitter by Independent Group MP Chris Leslie, Soubry said former Conservative colleagues have told her in private that they know a so-called “people’s vote” is the only solution.
“Put your country first,” she said, urging MPs to support a second referendum.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan addressed the crowds in Parliament Square this afternoon, and also called for a People’s Vote on Twitter.
Take a look at a few of these protest signs for a bit of light relief.
Passionate Remainer Charles, 63, a retired teacher from Ripon in North Yorkshire, told CNN that the EU was not perfect but it has contributed to peace in the last 70 years.
“The country had the chance to vote on a principle but now we know a bit more of what the reality would be and people need the chance to say if they want that reality,” he added.
If people say they want Brexit now – knowing what it involves – I would respect that, Charles added.
Anti-Brexit protesters have flooded towards London from across the country, bringing multiple generations of families together.
Some are carrying babies, others are celebrating their birthdays with family and friends, and relatives have met up together in the capital to protest.
Boscy, Robyn and Muffie have traveled from Brighton, Woking and Bath respectively. The niece, daughter and mother are on their third march in two years since Article 50 was triggered.
“We must revoke,” said Muffie. “We owe it to the people.”
Demonstrators are congregating in Parliament Square ahead of planned appearances from a number of anti-Brexit figures.
Saturday’s route for the “Put It To The People” march saw protesters start at Park Lane before heading towards Parliament Square in central London.
London mayor Sadiq Khan, Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, and former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine are all set to address protesters.
A million people are marching in London Saturday, according to a spokesperson for the organizers.
CNN has not been able to verify this figure and London’s Metropolitan Police are not commenting on crowd estimates.
But if organizers are correct, that would mean Saturday’s demonstrations have drawn significantly more than the 700,000 that turned out for the People’s Vote march back in October.
One protester, Rebecca from Glastonbury, has brought her 15-month-old daughter Seren along for her first march.
Protesters have traveled from far and wide to protest in the British capital.
Rebekah, Colin and their sons Sam and John Paul came from Nottingham, in central England.
“Put it to the people again,” said Rebekah, who is advocating for a second referendum, or People’s Vote.
“We want to make sure our sons have the same chances we had,” said Colin.
Another protester, Roger from London, told CNN he was worried about the economic impact of Brexit.
“Brexit is self-evidently bad for the economy, it’s bad for my kids’ future,” he said.
While anti-Brexit crowds gather in London, a rival set of marchers who support Brexit continue to move closer to the British capital.
The “March to Leave” set off from the city of Sunderland, in northeast England, last Saturday and hopes to reach London by March 29, the original Brexit day, reports the Press Association.
Staunch Brexit supporter Nigel Farage made a speech to marchers this morning near Nottingham.
“What has happened this week is not only a national humiliation but it is an outright betrayal because Mrs. May now tells us we’re not leaving next Friday despite telling us over 100 times that we would be,” he told PA.
For some people, such as Ben Patterson, the march is a festive affair.
Patterson told CNN he is celebrating his birthday with 15 members of his family and friends, including his mum Maxine Graville, and a glass of Prosecco.
He said he had family members who voted leave but have since changed their minds, although none of them are at today’s march.
“This is most important protest happening in my lifetime,” said Patterson.
“Ultimately I want it to go back to the people. We’ve learned so much in the past few years.
“I think it would be a travesty if it didn’t go back to a public vote,” he added.
London’s exclusive Park Lane is completely blocked with protesters marching to Parliament Square for a rally that’s scheduled to end around 5 p.m. local time.
Transport for London, the corporation responsible for public transport in Greater London, tweeted an alert showing the scene at 12.01 p.m.
The UK has had three years to figure Brexit out, but uncertainty reigns with an extended deadline looming in three weeks.
CNN’s Luke McGee asks what the extension will actually change.
The outcome of Brexit may not yet be decided, but it has already done major damage to the UK economy.
The vote to leave the European Union in June 2016 caused the pound to weaken dramatically and ushered in years of uncertainty that has reduced economic activity and triggered a slump in investment.
The economy is now 2% smaller than it would have been if the United Kingdom had chosen to remain in the bloc, according to the Bank of England. The economic output lost since the referendum is worth about £800 million ($1 billion) per week, or £4.7 million ($6 million) per hour.
And with UK politics in disarray, there’s still a risk the country will leave the European Union without a transitional deal to protect trade, known as a no-deal Brexit.
The fallout from that scenario would be worse than the 2008 financial crisis, according to the Bank of England.
More than 1,000 days after Britain voted to leave the EU, leaders of the bloc agreed to allow Britain a delay to the withdrawal process so it doesn’t crash out without a deal on March 29.
The EU has agreed to delay Brexit until May 22, but that’s conditional on May getting her withdrawal agreement through Parliament next week.
If May’s deal fails with MPs for a third time, EU leaders said the UK can stay in the bloc only until April 12, by which point they expect a clear plan from the UK about what it wants to do next.
Either it takes part in European parliamentary elections and seeks a longer delay to Brexit, or crashes out of the bloc without a deal.
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