Ten years on from the United Kingdom's landmark decision to leave the European Union following an in-out referendum, three British nationals have walked from London to Brussels to call for their country to rejoin the bloc.
The three Brits who participated in the 'Rejoin Ramble', Peter Corr, Clare Hall and Ceira Sergeant, finally arrived at Place du Luxembourg opposite the European Parliament in Brussels on Friday, 5 June, having set off from London on 23 May and trekked approximately 350 km over almost two weeks.
Their aim was clear: to personally deliver a book titled 'Voices Across the Channel' to MEPs in Brussels, with hundreds of messages from the British public expressing support for the EU and calling for the UK to rejoin the bloc after it officially left in January 2020.
"I think that people in Europe don't hear from real people in the UK. They just hear from our media and our politicians, who are negative about everything," Corr, a 46-year-old lorry driver from south London, told The Brussels Times. "I just wanted real people's positive voices to get through to the Parliament."
Around 50 supporters gathered on the square in the pouring rain to welcome the walkers. Amid roars of support from the crowd and Union Jacks and EU flags flying high, there were speeches from MEPs, both past and present, and even an interpretive dance.
Supporters standing in the rain. Credit: Isabella Vivian / The Brussels Times
Richard Corbett, a former British MEP who served as the final leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party, said during a speech that "the tide is turning on Brexit", and claimed it wasn't just 'remainers' like him who argue it was a bad decision, but now also people who voted to leave the EU back in 2016.
"Now, it is people who voted leave who are saying, hang on, this bears no resemblance to what they promised. This is not what I voted for," he said.
Corbett also said the referendum campaign was based on "a pack of lies" and that there was "a questionable electorate", as British citizens were unable to vote in the referendum if they had been abroad for more than 15 years.
Brits in the crowd, such as Peter Wilding – the man who coined the word 'Brexit' – and his wife Marianne Farrar Hockley were decked out in a 'Remainiacs' t-shirt and a 'EU'll never walk alone' scarf.
Peter Wilding and Marianne Farrar Hockley. Credit: Isabella Vivian / The Brussels Times
Stephen Sadler, meanwhile, wore his 'Bollocks to Brexit' hat with pride.
Stephen Sadler, a Brit working at the EU Commission. Credit: Isabella Vivian / The Brussels Times
At around 12:30, Corr, Hall and Sergeant finally reached the finish line after over two weeks of walking and 12 weeks of training. In almost comic timing, the sun came out as they stepped onto the square. "It's not by coincidence that the rain stops now," an organiser said.
The trio then handed over the book of messages from the British public to Italian MEP Sandro Gozi, a member of the liberal, pro-European Renew Group and co-chair of the EU-UK Parliamentary Assembly.
Ceira Sergeant (Right) handing the book 'Voices Across the Channel' to MEP Sandro Gozi (Left). Credit: Isabella Vivian / The Brussels Times
Gozi then asked the anti-Brexit crowd a series of questions: "So, have you got, every week, £350 million more for your NHS? Have you created more jobs since you left the EU? Have you solved the problem of illegal migration? Have you presented the bill of all these lies to 'Mr Disaster' [Nigel Farage]? And the last question is, when will you present your new application for membership to rejoin the EU?"
After two weeks of walking, the Corr, Hall and Sergeant were undoubtedly exhausted, but also elated to have completed their mission and arrived at their final destination. "It was the highest of highs and sometimes the lowest of lows," said Hall, 46, who is Peter's partner.
A highlight for her was when she waved an EU flag on a bridge over a road in the UK. "The love that we got from people beeping their car horns and waving little heart signs out the windows...it gave us that real boost that we needed," she said. "The support is there in the UK."
And she isn't wrong: a YouGov poll from May showed that 56% of Brits support rejoining the EU, compared to 51% in January 2024. Among those who voted to leave the EU in 2016, 22% now support rejoining.
Credit: Isabella Vivian / The Brussels Times
Moreover, 83% of 16- to 24-year-olds would vote to rejoin the EU in a new referendum, an ITV poll from February found – none of whom were old enough to vote in 2016.
This was the case for 24-year-old student nurse Sergeant, the youngest of the walkers, who was just 14 at the time of the vote.
"As a young person, I wasn't able to vote in the 2016 referendum. So, there's very much a sense that my voice and my peers' voices were not heard," she said.
Like losing a family member
Sergeant, who comes from Liverpool, said she felt "a lot of shock and disbelief and shame" when she first heard the referendum result ten years ago. "I really hated the fact that the rest of Europe and the rest of the world maybe assumed that we all had those views that we were better on our own and that we didn't want to be part of a wider unit," she told The Brussels Times.
Corr also remembers the moment he heard the result: "It was just a really big feeling of loss, almost like you'd lost a family member or something. I felt devastated."
With a shifting world order and transatlantic tensions with US President Donald Trump, the trio agree unity is key. "It's important that we're united to weather the storms of the threats around the world," Sergeant said.
Credit: Isabella Vivian / The Brussels Times
"Most people do choose kindness and humanity, and the EU embodies that. It's a peace project. [...] The walk is a nice physical representation of the fact that we're walking home. We're walking towards a hopeful future and taking the messages of normal working people to the European Parliament," she added.
The walkers are members of the National Rejoin March, a grassroots campaign action group which is organising a major pro-EU protest in London on 20 June, where tens of thousands of people are expected.
All three of them are convinced that the UK will rejoin the EU one day. "It's inevitable. It's not if, it's when," Hall concluded.
