NEWS · 30 September 2024
Saturday's National Rejoin March – the third annual demonstration to rejoin the EU – was another joyous day.
Around 15,000 people (police estimate) marched through London in the sunshine to keep Rejoin on the agenda.
Speakers lit up Parliament Square with their messages of hope. For a flavour of the day, watch these videos from speakers Terry Reintke MEP and Femi Oluwole.
Why the march matters
Importantly, the march was held in the first 100 days of the new government, and in the week before new prime minister Keir Starmer is set to visit the European Commission for talks.
With the Brexit Tories finally defeated, but Labour still (for now) refusing to properly move on from Brexit, it is so important that we are keeping our movement going. The new government is floundering because it cannot get the economy moving again – however much they don't want to hear it, the EU holds the key.
Britain, though not an EU member, still has the largest pro-EU movement of any European country. We believe it is vital to nurture and cherish this.
The climber
The UK is moving, slowly, back towards the EU. Whether we can speed up the process will be a matter of how much pressure we can put on the politicians.
The Rejoin movement is like a climber part-way up a mountain: a lot of ground covered, but a long way still to go. We are in it for the long haul.
The National Rejoin March will be back again next year. And until then, as UK-EU negotiations begin once more, we will be looking for every chance we can take to push forward the pro-European cause.
