[The march was called by the U.K. Independence Party (UKIP), a once-ascendant movement now in decline, dominated by “Euroskeptics” and right-wing populists. They were at the forefront of the winning Brexit campaign two years ago, when they were led by radio show personality and Fox News contributor Nigel Farage, who was one of the first British politicians to meet with President Trump after his election.]
By William Booth
 |
|
One
"Brexit Betrayal" protester holds a gallows in a demonstration Sunday
against
British
Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan to leave the European
Union.
(Tim Ireland/AP)
|
LONDON
— Just two days before the
British Parliament is scheduled for a historic vote on Brexit, several thousand
marchers — edgy, suspicious, aloud with conspiracy theories — massed near Prime
Minister Theresa May’s official residence at 10 Downing Street on Sunday to
condemn her as a traitor to their cause.
The march was called by the U.K. Independence
Party (UKIP), a once-ascendant movement now in decline, dominated by
“Euroskeptics” and right-wing populists. They were at the forefront of the
winning Brexit campaign two years ago, when they were led by radio show
personality and Fox News contributor Nigel Farage, who was one of the first
British politicians to meet with President Trump after his election.
Now the Ukippers and their allies at the
rally say they are being double-crossed by “the establishment,” aided by a
“seditious BBC,” and a deep state of pro-Europe civil servants and global
capitalists led by May.
In the crowd, one man held aloft a gallows
with a hangman’s noose. Others shouted that May should be “taken to the Tower,”
the medieval palace-prison where Henry VIII had his wives killed.
At the rally, the current leader of UKIP,
Gerard Batten, called May’s Brexit plans “a betrayal” that had created “the
biggest crisis since the English civil war” in the 1640s — which saw Charles I
beheaded.
The demonstrators said May’s deal to leave
the European Union — which she has called an “honorable compromise” — was
actually a ruse designed to produce no Brexit at all.
“It’s going to be voted down. That was her
plan all along, wasn’t it?” said Paul Oakley, the general secretary of UKIP,
referring to Tuesday’s vote in Parliament, where many members of May’s own
Conservative Party have said they will vote against her Brexit deal.
Oakley reminded the crowd that in the June
2016 referendum, May voted to remain in the European Union. “This woman is not
stupid,” he said. “You simply do not become prime minister unless you possess
deep cunning. She always intended to betray Brexit.”
The UKIP lineup of speakers included Tommy
Robinson, a felon and founder of the English Defense League, a far-right
movement, who said he was prosecuted for campaigning against “the Islamization
of this country.” He was jailed after photographing defendants in a sex ring
run by 20 men, mostly of Pakistani descent, against a judge’s orders not to
reveal their identities while their trial was underway.
Robinson, who is now a paid adviser to UKIP,
told the audience: “To be honest, up until this point, I didn’t believe in
democracy. I never thought they would let us leave. I’m still not sure they’ll
let us leave.”
As the UKIP “Brexit Betrayal” march was
underway, larger numbers of counterprotesters came out in central London, some
to oppose the Robinson crowd and others to support a second referendum, dubbed
a People’s Vote, to allow citizens another chance to decide whether to go
forward with May’s Brexit.
In the placards and speeches at the UKIP
rally, May was condemned as an enemy of the people. The atmosphere showed how
Brexit — described by some as the most momentous decision in a generation — is
rubbing the usually staid Brits raw.
Many have aligned themselves into two warring
camps — “remainers” and “leavers.”
On social media and the Sunday morning
political talk shows, the sides continued to do battle over the best way
forward. It seems there is little hope for finding common cause. The polls are
as divided as ever, and the political class is either plotting against May or
running for the exits.
Some of May’s fellow Tories pushed Parliament
to support her unpopular plan as the best deal possible; others said the
country should risk the economic chaos of a “no deal” Brexit and just crash out
of the European Union.
Others urged May to return to the negotiating
table to seek better terms, but the Europeans have signaled there is no other
deal to offer.
The London Sunday Times reported that May’s
ministers and aides “expect May to announce tomorrow that she will launch a
final throw of the diplomatic dice with a dash to Brussels, a move that could
result in Tuesday’s vote being postponed.”
Others called that wishful thinking.
The former foreign secretary and arch
Brexiteer Boris Johnson said Sunday that a “great” deal with the European Union
was still possible — though he was vague about how it would be accomplished.
The Telegraph reported that “at least nine
current or former cabinet ministers are understood to be contemplating running
for leader” if May is either forced out or resigns if her withdrawal agreement
is defeated in Parliament.
Johnson is considered a top contender, and
political handicappers speculated that the race may be on — because the
mop-headed Johnson sported a new haircut.
For her part, May said she copes with the
stress of Brexit by eating spoonfuls of peanut butter out of the jar.
The prime minister also warned that if her
deal was defeated and she were chucked out, the Conservative Party would be
facing Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
“Getting his hands on power is a risk we
cannot afford to take,’ she told the Daily Mail.
