(Reuters) — Londoners who voted to stay in the European Union gathered in Parliament Square on Saturday (June 25) to share their grief and sorrow at the country voting to leave in Thursday’s (June 23) referendum.
Draped in EU flags and holding placards reading “Yes to EU” the disappointed group of a few hundred listened to impromptu speeches from people deploring the result.
Some still wearing their official ‘IN’ campaign T-shirts said their shock had turned to anger.
Britain’s decision to leave the EU, the world’s largest trading bloc, is the biggest blow since World War Two to the European project of forging greater unity.
In the country itself, divisions widened after the relatively close result in Thursday’s referendum.
Eurosceptics in a number of member states have welcomed the vote by Britain to become the first sovereign state to leave the EU. This has deepened fears among mainstream politicians about the rise of anti-establishment parties
On Saturday more than a million people signed an online petition calling for a second referendum on EU membership.
Under British parliament rules once a petition gains over 100,000 signatures it will be considered by a parliamentary committee.