Why we marched

I'm not sure I would have gone on my own, but Anne prompted a conversation and we ended up joining the march for a "Peoples Vote" on Saturday. The estimates range from 500-700 thousand people protesting peacefully for a vote on the final deal for leaving the EU.

From the banners and placards you got the feeling that some of those who were there simply wanted to be able to express an opinion via a vote on the final deal, whatever that might be. For others, like me, it was about wanting to say that a vote needed to include the option to ditch the whole process and remain a member of the European Community.

Of course someone is bound to say, "We had a vote, get over it, you lost." But had the vote gone the other way there is every likelihood that the leavers would still be campaigning and would not have given up the fight so easily (except for those for whom is would be politically expedient to do so). Add to that the absurd assertion that another vote is an affront to democracy and you wonder why we every bother having general elections every five years if a single vote determines an everlasting position. As one banner put it: "When is less voting more democratic?" I'd like at least one journalist to ask that question of the likes of Nigel Farage and Theresa May.

But these are not the only reasons we joined the crowd on Saturday. My greatest regret over the referendum was the lack of a positive voice for the EU. I didn't hear a single MP or MEP (where were they during the debate?) speak positively of all the benefits that the EU had brought. Neither did I hear an MP accept responsibility for successive governments failing to implement EU regulations on things like migration while Leavers and leave-supporting newspapers continued to tell the public that it was the fault of unseen and unaccountable Eurocrats in Brussels.

So we wanted to say that we still believe that being in the EU is far better, offers a brighter future and greater opportunities than the nebulous "Global Britain" concept being thrown around. We wanted to say to future generations that we tried our best, that we did something, even if we still end up leaving.