ORGANISERS hope “hundreds of thousands” of people will take part in protests across Britain this weekend against Boris Johnson’s plan to prorogue Parliament.
Anti-Brexit campaign group Another Europe Is Possible has organised 32 #StopTheCoup demonstrations in Scotland, England, and Wales today.
Scottish cities taking part include Aberdeen (the Castlegate, 12 noon), Dundee (City Square, 2pm), Edinburgh (Holyrood, 12 noon) and Glasgow (George Square, 2pm)
Michael Chessum, the national organiser for Another Europe Is Possible, said “disruption is the only form of leverage protesters can rely on”. He said the group was not encouraging demonstrators to block roads, but that kind of disruption is “certainly possible”, adding: “We would go further than anticipate [civil disobedience]. We would defend it.”
Chessum said he expects to see “hundreds of thousands” of people to take part. He added: “Ultimately we are not going to persuade Boris Johnson to change his mind through some intellectual exercise.
“This process needs to force the Government to change its course.”
The Jo Cox Foundation, set up in the wake of the Labour MP’s murder in 2016, warned that anger over Brexit “should not spill over into something more dangerous”.
It said: “We believe strongly in freedom of speech. But we would urge everybody to avoid saying or doing anything that could incite or lead to violence.”
Prime Minister Johnson’s most senior minister yesterday dismissed the furore over the suspension of Parliament as “nonsense”. Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State Dominic Raab insisted only around four days of sitting time would be lost by suspending Parliament for up to five weeks.
He told reporters at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Helsinki: “The idea this is some kind of constitutional outrage is nonsense.
“It’s actually lawful, it’s perfectly proper, there is precedent for it and actually, fundamentally, for the people watching this, they want to see that we are leaving the EU but also talking about all the other things they expect us to be addressing.”
Meanwhile, it was reported that the UK Government will spend £100 million urging the public and businesses to “get ready” for a No-Deal Brexit, through an advertising push set to begin next week. Michael Gove, the minister in charge of No-Deal Brexit preparations, is expected to launch the publicity blitz, according to The Times.
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