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Three people who took part in the People's Vote March from Tunbridge Wells - IN (TW-IN) have written their accounts of the day. Read below:

Vanessa's report

Real people took part in this, handmade banners named many who could not come.

A warm yet sad atmosphere at the impending loss of our belonging in Europe and yet a sense that at least the whole of us had one mind about changing the nation‘s mind in a second vote.

Children cheered and marched to the beat of the bands and everyone had a smile for their neighbour.

Green parakeets cheered us on.

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In June 2018 we manged to fill two coaches for the People's Vote March. In October 2018, we were up to six but for the Put It To The People March, we topped out at twelve (including one from Worcester University). If you add the independent travellers, and there were quite a few, there were over 1000 protesters from our area. All the county towns were represented and marched as a group. This upturn in support reflects the change in support across the county, as more and more people support a People's Vote. But the important thing to remember is that the constituency of Worcester City is the 'indicator' marginal in General Elections. Back to the point...the team had a fantastic day out and through cunning planning and experience made it to Parliament Square for the speeches. It was great to be part of one of the largest protests in UK history. We counted them all out and counted them all back, Worcestershire has it's supporters back in place and ready for a People's Vote.

An important day the 23^rd March 2019. Not just because of the one million plus supporters of a People's Vote winding their way through the streets of London but also because the Veterans for Europe were marching with their Commanding Officer, Brigadier Stephen Goodall. 

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Among the million or so people from all walks of life and all regions of the country who marched peacefully in London on one of the biggest demonstrations in British history on the 23rd March were members of EM1066 from Hastings, Bexhill, Battle and Rye.

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How far would you go to get a vote? A Swansea campaigner, Ed Sides, walked 200 miles from Swansea to London, to join the People’s Vote march in the capital, with over a million other people, calling for a referendum on the Brexit deal.

Ed was be joined at the march by around 130 people from Swansea, who were part of a contingent of several thousand from Wales.

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Your members' weekly briefing rounds up a selection of Brexit-related news from the UK, the rest of Europe and beyond. Click on the blue links for the full article.

You are cordially invited to subscribe to the People’s Vote campaign’s Morning Briefing. Click here to sign up.

From InFacts

Grieve comes up with killer take back control amendment (Hugo Dixon)

Patients with these diseases will be hardest hit by no deal (Rachel Dobbs)

Nobody voted for bigger shopping bills (Andy Lebrecht)

Germans love-bomb us, they want us to stay (Hugo Dixon)

Brexit is burning UK business. The flames are already lit (Hugo Dixon)

MPs must cancel half-term holiday and fix Brexit crisis (Luke Lythgoe)

Quote of the Week

Airbus chief executive Tom Enders condemns “Brexiteer madness” and warns the government over its lack of direction.

“It is a disgrace that more than two years after the result of the 2016 referendum, businesses are still unable to plan properly for the future. And we, along with many of our peers, have repeatedly called for clarity. But, we still have no idea what is really going on here".

“Please don't listen to the Brexiteers' madness which asserts that because we have huge plants here, we will not move and we will always be here. Brexit is threatening to destroy a century of development based on education, research and human capital.”

Video of the Week

Dominic Grieve explains why he thinks a People’s Vote is necessary: "Despite two and a half years of trying to see a silver lining in this particular cloud, I think Brexit remains the biggest historic mistake the UK has made."

Brexit Comment

Who is really in control of Brexit? (New Statesman)
The House of Commons is deadlocked, so prepare for an election – or a chaotic departure from the EU.

Brexit and Ireland: a danger to peace (Guardian editorial)
The Derry bombing this weekend is a stark reminder of what is at stake in Northern Ireland with Brexit: decades of peace where arguments are settled with words not weapons. In reopening the question of whether the physical border between the North and South of Ireland might return, Brexit threatens to turn back the clock to a far more dangerous era.

Londonderry attacks raise fears Brexit is giving rise to violence (FT)

Theresa May’s government lives on, and so does the Brexit chaos (New Yorker)
If insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, and the other members of the government should be confined to a psychiatric hospital.

If parliament cannot resolve Brexit, a new referendum is needed (FT editorial)
Ultimately, parliamentary gridlock over Brexit would represent a constitutional crisis of such a magnitude as to outweigh the pitfalls of a new plebiscite. If the people’s representatives cannot resolve the most momentous political issue in a generation, the people must once again have their say.

(Reuters)James Blake from emergency food storage.co.uk fills one of the company's 'Brexit Box' kits which contains dehydrated food, water purifying kit and fire starting gel at their warehouse in Leeds.

More Brexit News

France and Germany renew post-war vows of friendship (Guardian)
As the EU comes under unprecedented pressure from Brexit, Donald Trump and increasingly strident nationalist governments in Italy, Poland and Hungary, both Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron are eager to limit the gains eurosceptic parties are expected to make in European parliamentary elections in May.

Poland's prime minister wants to see more workers return from UK (BBC)
Poland's prime minister, concerned about the effects of Brexit on his country, says he wants to see more Polish workers return from the UK to help its domestic economy grow.

Liam Fox explains failure to replicate EU trade deals (FT)
International trade secretary Liam Fox has blamed his department’s failure to replicate EU trade deals ahead of the UK’s planned departure from the bloc on foreign countries’ refusal to believe that a no-deal Brexit could occur. A Whitehall memo, revealed last week by the FT, found that Britain will not have agreed replacements for all the EU’s trade agreements before its scheduled exit on March 29.

Stephen Crabb 'deeply pessimistic' for Conservatives' future (BBC)
Former Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb says he is "deeply pessimistic" for the future of the Conservatives following the Brexit process. Mr Crabb said Brexit is a trauma "ripping right throughout our political system". He told the BBC a "deeply irresponsible" chunk of his party is fomenting support for no deal.

(Reuters)

150,000 members desert Labour in Brexit backlash (Sunday Times)
The Labour Party is haemorrhaging members amid a growing backlash over Jeremy Corbyn’s stance on Brexit, according to party insiders. A Labour insider said the downswing had already cost the party about £6 million.

Your members' weekly briefing rounds up a selection of Brexit-related news from the UK, the rest of Europe and beyond. Click on the blue links for the full article.

You are cordially invited to subscribe to the People’s Vote campaign’s Morning Briefing. Click here to sign up.

From InFacts

Don’t despair, Donald! People’s Vote is alive and kicking (Luke Lythgoe)

Ministers must give PM firm deadline to ask for extra time (Nick Kent)

Fox’s failures prove Britain is more global inside the EU (Luke Lythgoe)

May wrong to suggest MPs must not usurp her power (Ian Davidson)

Don’t run scared of the money resolution bogey (Nick Kent)

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From European Movement

Laura Urquhart Prieto: Why I support a People's Vote

Why everyone should campaign for a People's Vote

A short piece on the importance of volunteering

Four cemeteries and an EU trip

Quote of the Week

“The concern is they’ll do something stupid like reducing all tariffs to zero, which would be devastating.”

An industry insider talks to The Times about the government’s post-Brexit tariff schedule.

Brexit comment

Richard Harrington MP: We must rule out a hard exit. Business is at breaking point (Observer)

As a Labour campaigner I’m left wondering what we stand for (New European)
A young Labour campaigner explains her disappointment at the party leadership’s failure to curb the Conservative government. “Enabling a Tory Brexit isn’t representing your communities, it is damaging them.”

The collective madness behind Britain’s latest Brexit plan (Washington Post)
Britain is one of the richest and most advanced democracies in the world. It is currently locked in a room, babbling away to itself hysterically while threatening to blow its own kneecaps off. This is what nationalist populism does to a country.

(Toby Melville/Reuters)

Tweet of the Week

From Twitter account @ByDonkeys which specialises in publicising broken Brexiter promises.

From the heart of Brexit

“People are starting to worry how long the plant is going to stay open.”

Nissan employee, talking to the FT, reveals the real-life fears Brexit is causing in Sunderland and around the country.

More Brexit News

Nicola Sturgeon warns of no deal Brexit in US speech (BBC)
Nicola Sturgeon said contingency plans for Britain's departure from the EU with no deal were "genuinely astonishing", in a speech in the US. Scotland's first minister warned of food shortages and stockpiling of medicine amid a "real and growing risk" of a no deal scenario.

Liam Fox mocked for bonfire of the tariffs (Times)
Ministers have told businesses they are considering cutting swathes of import tariffs on food and goods in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Senior business figures have said that the proposals could devastate British producers, who would face greater competition at home while remaining subject to tariffs on their exports.

I voted Leave but our inept leaders have changed my mind (Times)

Jan Page, who describes herself as an “overweight baby boomer from Sunderland” - a city that voted overwhelmingly for Brexit - explains why she has changed her mind about the prospects for Britain if it leaves the EU.

Fear and anger stalk thousands of Britons living on Costa del Sol (Guardian)

For 300,000 UK citizens in Spain, which does not allow dual citizenship, pension and healthcare worries are hard to resolve.

British retirees living in Spain play bowls at Benavista Bowls Club in Estepona, southern Spain (Reuters)

May faces new pressure to rule out no-deal as Nissan pledges revealed (FT)
Theresa May is under renewed pressure to rule out a no-deal Brexit after it emerged that the government promised Nissan in 2016 that it would not be “adversely affected” by Britain’s departure from the EU. Nissan has ripped up a deal to produce its X-Trail SUV in north-east England and shifted the project to Japan.

Brexit plan to evacuate the Queen (Sunday Times)
The Queen and other senior royals will be evacuated from London in the event of riots triggered by a no-deal Brexit, under secret plans being drawn up by Whitehall, several weekend newspapers reported. Downing Street has denied the stories.

Queen Elizabeth boarding a helicopter during a visit to South Wales (Reuters)

Your members' weekly briefing rounds up a selection of Brexit-related news from the UK, the rest of Europe and beyond. Click on the blue links for the full article.

And you can keep up with all the big issues in the Brexit debate by signing up to the InFacts daily newsletter.

The UK parliament votes to apply to Brussels for a delay in Brexit as the government effectively spins beyond the control of a prime minister who had insisted the March 29 exit date was immutable. Theresa May plans to bring her Brexit deal back to Parliament for a third vote next week, calculating that hardliners will buckle for fear of losing their prize altogether. But MPs must not let this rotten deal through - unchanged after it lost again this week by 149 votes. The UK needs time, as a country, to look at all the Brexit alternatives, and then it is only fair to put the final decision to the people.

 Theresa May speaking in parliament during this week’s Brexit debates (Reuters)

You are cordially invited to subscribe to the People’s Vote campaign’s Morning Briefing. Click here to sign up

British Parliament votes to delay Brexit, rejects a second referendum for now (Washington Post)
British lawmakers voted to seek to delay Brexit — maybe for weeks, maybe for months — after Prime Minister Theresa May’s plans for leaving the European Union have been repeatedly rejected by a raucous Parliament trying to wrest control from her.

Downing Street optimism rises over Brexit deal prospects (Financial Times)
Mrs May has struggled until now to persuade her critics that they really had reached what Michael Gove, environment secretary, calls “make your mind up time”. This time Downing Street is confident that next week really will be seen as the moment of catharsis.

Brexit will mark the end of Britain’s role as a great power (Washington Post)
Britain, famous for its prudence, propriety and punctuality, is suddenly looking like a banana republic as it makes reckless decisions, misrepresents reality and now wants to change its own self-imposed deadline. But if it does leave the European Union, it would be bad news for Britain, Europe and the West.

From InFacts

Let’s squish PM’s deal one more time (Hugo Dixon)

Government doubly misleading on European elections (Hugo Dixon)

Chancellor desperate to spin economic damage of Brexit (Vicky Pryce)

Agony of splintering Tory Party is laid bare (Nick Kent)

If MPs can vote twice on deal, why can’t people vote once? (Hugo Dixon)

From European Movement

Lambeth went to Dagenham

8 things that you can do to support a People's Vote

Brexit – Irish/Welsh campaigner walks 200 miles to London to join march for People’s Vote

Divide and ruin

Why I'm attending the People's Vote March

Video of the Week

EU Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt expresses exasperation at chaos in Britain’s parliament; says he would begrudge even a 24-hour extension of the deadline if London could not present a clear plan. But he says he believes there is a younger generation in Britain that will bring their country back to the European project.

Brexit Comment

Oh, UK! What next for Brexit (Economist)
When historians come to write the tale of Britain’s attempts to leave the European Union, this week may be seen as the moment the country finally grasped the mess it was in...Mrs May boasted this week of “sending a message to the whole world about the sort of country the United Kingdom will be”. She is not wrong: it is a laughing-stock.

Britain’s reality right now: we have no functioning government (Guardian)
The Tory party is so divided and consumed by a mismanaged Brexit, it has no energy for anything else

Love Feminism, Hate Brexit: It’s nothing less than a disaster for women’s rights (LabourList)
“As women, we need to talk about Brexit,” writes Victoria Mills. “It’s a mess. For too long the debate has been dominated by male voices within Westminster and the right-wing agenda of men like Jacob Rees-Mogg whose feminism is, well, shall we say, antiquated at best.”

How do Brits think the EU sees them? It depends how old they are (LSE EU Blog)
Research by the LSE’s Sara Hobolt and her colleagues suggests that Remain and Leave are becoming crucial political identities, rivalling more familiar influences like party identification and class in their explanatory power and, potentially, their electoral consequences.

Theresa May is appallingly weak and has brought about a surreal new level of crisis - she must go (Telegraph)
Like some interminable dying scene in an opera, with the soprano shrieking on and on, flailing about madly, coughing and clutching her throat, while the audience sits there, willing it to end, saying a silent prayer: “Please let it stop. Get her off! Please…”

Graphic of the Week

Quote of the Week

“What we are hearing is the biggest change in terms of trade this country has faced since the mid-19th century being imposed on this country with no consultation with business, no time to prepare...This is no way to run a country.”

Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the CBI lobby group, commenting on the government’s tariff plans for a no-deal Brexit. “A sledgehammer for our economy”.

More Brexit News

Trump slams handling of Brexit by UK's May (Reuters)
“I gave the prime minister my ideas on how to negotiate it and I think you would have been successful. She didn't listen to that, and that's fine. I mean ... she's got to do what she's got to do. But I think it could have been negotiated in a different manner, frankly."

Think the Commonwealth can save Brexit Britain? That’s utter delusion (Kevin Rudd, Guardian)
“Australians want the UK to do well,” says the country’s former PM. “But there’s no way free trade with us or others can make up for the hit of leaving the EU.”

Nissan to end luxury Infiniti car production in Sunderland (Telegraph)
Britain’s car industry has been dealt a fresh blow with Nissan’s premium marque Infiniti announcing it will stop building cars at the company's giant Sunderland plant.

Goldman Sachs' Best Brexit Guess: May's Deal Passed Eventually (Reuters)
Goldman Sachs said it sees a 55 percent probability of Theresa May getting a Brexit divorce deal ratified.