Brexit supporters march in Britain to demand divorce from EU
SUNDERLAND, England — With Britain’s departure from the European Union likely to be put on hold, some Brexit supporters fear their dream is dying. But they aren’t giving up without a fight — or at least, a long walk.
Hard-core Brexiteers led by former U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage set out Saturday on a two-week “Leave Means Leave” march between northeast England and London, accusing politicians of “betraying the will of the people.”
They plan to finish at Parliament in London on March 29, the day the United Kingdom was supposed to leave. That deadline now looks unlikely. With British politicians deadlocked over departure terms, lawmakers voted Thursday to seek to delay Brexit until at least June 30.
“If you have seen what’s happening in Parliament this week, we may well not be leaving the EU,” said Brexit champion Farage, who joined the protest. “If politicians think they can walk all over us, we’re going to march back and tell them they can’t.”
As many as 200 Brexit believers showed up to march on a wet, cold day. To them, the gridlock in Parliament is confirmation that Britain’s politicians have no intention on cutting the country’s ties with the 28-nation EU.
“People now are just fed up with the whole situation and want to get out,” said John Harrington, who traveled from Southend on England’s south coast. “Now with it being prolonged, it could just go on forever.”
Like many things connected to Britain’s departure from the EU, the Brexit march didn’t go completely to plan. Chaos reigned as protesters set off in a cold rain down a muddy North Sea coast path in Sunderland, a former shipbuilding city 270 miles north of London.
The starting point was changed at the last minute for what organizers said were...