- A protest calling for another Brexit referendum attracts over a million people in London
- This is beside the millions who have signed an online petition to the same effect
- There is also allegedly pressure for the British Prime Minister to resign
When British Prime Minister Theresa May first took office in 2016, she was also taking leadership of a nation in a very divided state as the public and the members of parliament were still at odds over the just-concluded Brexit vote in which Britain had decided to leave the EU.
Years later, the situation is still the same if not worse. May has seen her Brexit deal rejected twice, a petition to hold a second referendum has seen millions of signatures and now there is pressure for her to resign from her position amid a massive protest around the issue of Brexit.
Mounting Pressure
While, on the surface, one might assume that all of the pressure is coming from the people, you’d be wrong. Besides the endless calls for either a cancellation of the Brexit vote or a new one, there is also a growing narrative even within May’s own conservative party that she should leave office.
It has even been reported that people in her own party might try to force her to resign. Should she resign, she would be replaced by an interim prime minister, though the people who have been suggested for that position have publicly backed her.
David Lidington, the prime minister’s de facto deputy, and Michael Gove, the secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, have both spoken out against the idea of them replacing May and a possible resignation, reaffirming that they are behind her.
Marching Against May
Besides the possible pressure from within the party, external pressure is growing against the Brexit movement.
Over a million people took to the streets on March 23, 2019, to demand a second Brexit referendum, which is beside the millions of people who have signed the online petition for the same reason. The protesters weren’t only civilians as Labour Party’s deputy leader Tom Watson, former Tory Deputy Prime Minister Lord Heseltine, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, and Scottish National Party leader and First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon also joined in the protest.
Despite all of this, May is pushing forward. She met with some members of her party and leaders of the Brexit movement recently, with her office releasing a statement about it.
“The PM and a number of government ministers met today at Chequers for lengthy talks with senior colleagues about delivering Brexit,” the statement said. “The meeting discussed a wide range of issues, including whether there is sufficient support in the Commons to bring back a meaningful vote this week.”
Now, one of the possible options is that the Prime Minister bring forward a new deal next week. Should the deal receive the support it needs, Britain would have until May 22, 2019, to leave the EU. Should the deal not get the support it needs, Britain might end up having to leave the EU without a deal, which would be disastrous or try to come up with yet another plan.