September 1 • 2019 The Mail on Sunday^
Tens of thousands protest against Boris’s Commons suspension
with chants of ‘No borders, no
nations, stop deportations’.
In Glasgow, Labour leader
Jeremy Corbyn threw his support
behind the protest, declaring: ‘I’m
proud to be here with all of you...
to say to Boris Johnson: no way,
it’s our Parliament. No way do you
take us out without a deal – we will
stop you and give the people their
rights and their say to determine
their future.
‘Demonstrations are taking place
everywhere because people are
angered and outraged about what
is happening.’
Michael Chessum, the protest
organiser for Momentum, pledged‘Sorry, is this child in Venezuela?’
THE mass rallies yesterday drew protesters of
all ages, including many youngsters who would
struggle to pronounce ‘prorogation’ let alone
understand Boris Johnson’s constitutional tactic
to shut down Parliament.
Parents who brought their young children
along with placards faced a ribbing on social
media sites.
Left-wing columnist Polly Toynbee posted a
photograph of a young boy in London carrying a
sign that read: ‘Let us grow up in a democracy –
Adam age 10 and Isabelle age 12.’
But Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine, wife of
Cabinet Minister Michael Gove, delivered a with-
ering response to Ms Toynbee. ‘Is this child inVenezuela?’ she tweeted, in reference to a coun-
try where democracy has genuinely been
brought to its knees by socialist dictators.
One Twitter user said: ‘I’ve always baulked
when I see adults using children to demonstrate
on issues they are too young, naive and inexperi-
enced to understand, especially when they’ve
been spoonfed biased, one-sided arguments by
their parents. Don’t do it!’
Another added: ‘Who would do this to a child?
All I can see is a bunch of well-heeled, middle
class white liberals aggrieved that poor people
have voted to leave the EU.
‘They are far too liberal to say that of course
but that is what it comes down to.’By Jonathan Bucks,
James Heale and Michael Powell
NAIVE? The photo Polly Toynbee postedTENS of thousands of protesters
brought disruption to Britain’s
major cities yesterday in mass
demonstrations against the Prime
Minister’s controversial decision to
suspend Parliament.
The hard-Left group Momentum
urged members to occupy bridges
and blockade roads as protests
took place in 32 cities, including
London, Leeds, Bristol, Manchester
and Newcastle.
The Stop The Coup marches,
organised by anti-Brexit campaign
group Another Europe, saw thou-
sands of people waving EU flags
and carrying placards that vowed
to ‘defend democracy’.
In extraordinary scenes, several
hundred activists marched on
Buckingham Palace in anger at the
Queen for signing off the suspen-
sion of Parliament.
At Trafalgar Square, police made
three arrests after dozens of
protesters blocked traffic by sit-
ting in the road.
Outside Downing Street, where
demonstrators flooded the streets
chanting ‘Boris Johnson, shame on
you’, Shadow Chancellor John
McDonnell described the Prime
Minister as a dictator.
‘We have defeated dictators in the
past in our history and we will
defeat this dictator,’ he said.
Each mention of Mr Johnson’s
name was greeted with pantomime
boos, with speeches interspersed
daily demonstrations outside Par-
liament from tomorrow.
Fellow Momentum militant Laura
Parker, a former private secretary
to Mr Corbyn, earlier told Radio 4that the PM had been ‘elected by a
handful of extremists’.
But Mr Johnson urged protesters
to respect the result of the 2016 ref-
erendum. He told Sky News: ‘Mymessage to them is that I think the
worst thing for democracy now
would be to cancel the referendum
which is what some people are now
suggesting – to nullify, to annul that
result, to tell people that they were
going to be ignored, after all the
promises that have been made.
‘It will do lasting and catastrophic
damage to the major parties in this
country and I think this political
generation won’t be forgiven for
failing to honour that promise.’
Among the activists arrested for
blocking traffic in Trafalgar Square
was Green Party London Assembly
member Caroline Russell.
Shadow Home Secretary DianeAbbott told crowds: ‘We cannot
allow Boris Johnson to shut down
Parliament and to shut down the
voice of ordinary British people.’
After speaking at a demonstra-
tion in her Brighton constituency,
former Green Party leader Caro-
line Lucas thanked those who
turned out to protest, adding: ‘This
is what democracy looks like.’
In Oxford, protesters gathered
outside Mr Johnson’s old college,
Balliol, to demonstrate.
The foundation set up in memory
of Labour MP Jo Cox, who was
murdered just a week before
the 2016 Brexit vote, called on
protesters not to let their anger
turn to violence.
In a statement, it said: ‘Emotions
are running very high across the
country this weekend, with many
people extremely angry about
the latest parliamentary moves
over Brexit.
‘While this is understandable, we
are concerned that this anger
should not spill over into something
more dangerous.’
Earlier in the week, protesters
drew widespread criticism after
posting the address of a pub near
Jacob Rees-Mogg’s home where
they planned to meet before target-
ing the Commons Leader.
Last night, the petition against
the Prime Minister’s decision to
prorogue Parliament had reached(^1) .6 million signatures.
32 cities hit by
Corbyn’s rabble
of Remainers
‘Worst thing would be to
annul referendum result’
ANGER:
Activists in
London and,
right, Corbyn
in Glasgow