Hundreds of thousands demand new Brexit vote in mass march

LONDON－Hundreds of thousands of protesters opposed to Britain's impending exit from the European Union marched through central London on Saturday, demanding a new referendum and to have a say on the government's final Brexit deal with the EU.

Organizers say another public vote is needed because new facts have come out about the costs and complexity of Britain's exit from the bloc since voters chose to leave in 2016.

They estimated that some 700,000 people took part in Saturday's "People's Vote March". Police did not provide an attendance estimate.

"What's clear is that the only options on the table now from the prime minister are a bad Brexit deal, or no deal whatsoever," London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who joined the march, told the BBC. "That's a million miles away from what was promised 2 1/2 years ago."

Khan said Saturday's protest was a "march for the future" for young Britons, including those who were too young to vote in Britain's 2016 Brexit referendum, when those who favored leaving the EU won narrowly with 52 percent.

Prime Minister Theresa May, the leader of Britain's Conservatives, has ruled out another public vote on the subject.

Meanwhile, the EU will not accept a temporary measure to solve the issue of the Irish border in Brexit negotiations, France's Europe minister Nathalie Loiseau said on Sunday.

Britain has said it could accept a longer post-Brexit transition period if the EU drops its proposals for the Irish backstop－an insurance policy to ensure there will be no return to a hard border on the island of Ireland. Britain has said any such extension must be time-limited.

"This is something that has to be fixed by London... We are waiting for a workable solution coming from London," Loiseau told BBC TV.

AP-Reuters