Dionne Ankle, 43, human resources officer
“I just feel that we have been sold a lie. People didn’t understand what the referendum would mean. And now, two years down the line, it’s still not clear what we were voting for.
“They were sold this lie about the NHS,” said Ankle, referring to the widely discredited leavers’ claim that it would make £350m a week available for the health service.
At the march with a friend who had travelled from Scotland, she also said she was concerned that the Brexit campaign had played to prejudices. “When I was listening to the campaign, it just seemed a very racially motivated campaign, and I didn’t like it.”
Margaret Owen, 86, academic and human rights lawyer
“I’m 86 and I remember why we went into Europe: people wanted to prevent another war. During the campaign, no one pointed out the advantages of the European Union. Wherever I go, I travel all over the world, people ask me, ‘why did you vote for Brexit? What are you doing?’ I call it the biggest self-inflicted harm in British history.”
Isabel, 73, retired
“I feel absolutely devastated by Brexit, and I wanted to stand up and be counted. The signs didn’t take very long – they took about a week,” said Isabel, who didn’t want to give her full name.
“I remember, before we were in the Common Market, you were lucky if you had one peach a week, because that was all you could afford, because they were imported from Italy and you had to pay the Common Market tariffs. It was the same with all vegetables.
“It’s also the idea of Europe: I studied languages, I have friends in Germany and other places in Europe.”
Ben Moseley, 44, Isla Moseley, 11, and Magnus Moseley, nearly 10
The 44-year-old software engineer dragged his two children away from their school’s summer fair to attend, the first time any of them had been to a protest.
“Dad said you shouldn’t go to the fair, there are more important things,” said Magnus.
His sister, Isla, said her dad’s arguments had convinced her, even though she regretted missing the fair. “I was worried that not enough people would come,” she said.
Ben Moseley said: “We have big problems in this country, and we can’t ignore the fact that many people are very unhappy. But Brexit will only make things worse. Separating from the EU is a huge distraction from what’s really important in this country.”
Martin Heaney, 52, retired human resources officer who travelled down from Glasgow
“This march is about having a people’s vote. It’s not about whether you voted leave or remain, it started with a referendum and it can only fairly finish with a people’s vote when we know what the options are. A yes or no vote didn’t go into the minutiae, and now that we are into that, what was promised is not appearing. We were sold a lie.
Several of my friends voted for Brexit, and I don’t know two of them who voted for the same reason. So saying ‘the people have spoken’ is a slightly misleading statement.
Chiufan Lee, 40, academic, with his son Felix Lee-Roessler, five
“Its not easy explaining to him what the European Union is, but I think he’s got some of the idea now.” Felix’s mother is German and Lee is Canadian, they met in the UK and made it their home. “As a Commonwealth citizen, I could vote in the referendum, but my wife as a European couldn’t.”
Richard Stanley, 36, foster carer, from Gloucester
“The funding for support for young people has been horrific since the Tories came to power, and Brexit is only going to make things worse.”
Vivian Kitteringham, 66, retired teacher from Edinburgh
“Really we’d like Brexit to stop, because I think it’s a disastrous, suicidal idea ... I profited from the EU by living and working in Germany, and didn’t think at the time that I needed German citizenship I now very much regret that I didn’t apply for it.
“We were lied to when we voted in the Scottish independence referendum. We were told that if we voted for independence, we’d be straight out of the EU, and the only way to guarantee staying in the EU was to stay in the union. And a number of people foolishly believed that, and I think a lot of those people are very cross now.”
Nicky Blackwell, 48, manager of a theatre company, from Lewes, Sussex
“Its a pile of bollocks, really. I thought of a whole load of things to say (on my banner), but that sums it up.
“I’m not really political,” she said. “I feel deeply ashamed and horrified about what’s happening, and I don’t feel Brexit is representative of what we are as a country.”
“I think, really, we are a genuinely good-hearted, multicultural, generous people, and I think we are showing ourselves up.”
