Of all the surprises in the Westminster soap opera that have followed from the British public’s vote to leave the EU, none matches the rise of Europhiles to the forefront of British political life.<\/p>\n
During the referendum the remain campaign was, much to the retrospective regret of its chiefs, big on the economics and small on the emotion. England, it was unsaid, does not love the EU. Our marriage was one of convenience \u2013 in migration queues, for roaming data fees and for those Britons who wanted to live abroad.<\/p>\n
The march of the remoaners on Saturday is, for that reason, something special.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A million people<\/a>, according to the march organisers, descended upon the usual route in London to express their displeasure at Brexit negotiations and call for another vote to overturn the previous one.<\/p>\n The prevalence of blue and yellow-starred flags, naff renditions of the anthem of Europe<\/a> and passionate pleas to remain show a pro-EU faction has been stirred by events. In their own way this group is radical, not merely pinching its nose and voting for remain, but actively embracing what it sees as the progressive values of the EU.<\/p>\n Many are not shy about proclaiming their virtue on this front. Naomi Smith, chief operating officer of the pro-EU group Best for Britain, told Blairite podcaster Matt Forde<\/a> she sees EU membership along the open-closed axis that some have used to explain the West’s political tumult over the past few years.<\/p>\n Further evidence is available online of the Europhile resurgence. At the time of writing some five million signatures adorn a petition to revoke article 50 outright<\/a> \u2013 in effect to cancel Brexit.<\/p>\n \u201cOn any sensible view, the fact that after 5 years a significant proportion of UK citizens (5 million petitioners, 1 million protestors) have not been won over to the legitimacy of the referendum mandate \u2013 and indeed actively oppose \u2013 cannot be a healthy sign,\u201d says David Allen Green,<\/a> a Financial Times commentator and lawyer.<\/p>\n Quite so. But in fact this weekend’s flurry of Europhile activity is just a culmination of hardline EU sentiment that was awoken by the referendum result.<\/p>\n The stream of lawsuits from pro-remain lawyers and campaigners that aim to stop or hinder Brexit has been a grim feature of recent British politics. Well-connected, rich, credentialed folk have sought to ignore democratic wishes by resorting to arguments over process.<\/p>\n