Bristol rally calls for referendum on final Brexit deal Published duration 11 August 2018 Related Topics Brexit

image caption Around 1,000 people crowded into the foyer at Colston Hall on Saturday afternoon

About 1,000 people opposing UK's withdrawal from the EU have attended a rally in Bristol calling for a second referendum on the final Brexit deal.

Saturday's event at Colston Hall was organised by the campaign group People's Vote.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable, who spoke at the rally, said: "The Government are making a mess out of Brexit - but it is not a done deal."

Pro-Brexit MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said the UK has already voted to leave the EU.

Sir Vince told the rally: "We have to work together; we have to work across party frontiers."

Other speakers at the event included Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston, Labour's Stephen Doughty and Green MEP Molly Scott Cato.

Ms Wollaston said: "It's bit a like asking someone to consent to an amputation two years in advance without knowing if they're going to have their foot taken off or their whole leg.

"Now we know where we are, the government has an opportunity and a duty to go back to people and ask them to make an informed choice."

A nationwide poll of more than 10,000 voters, released on Friday, suggested that Britain would back continued EU membership by 53% to 47% if a referendum were held now.

Mr Rees-Mogg, who is the MP for North East Somerset, said: "We had a people's vote back in 2016 and then the Liberal Democrats fought the 2017 election on reversing Brexit.

"On both occasions the country voted to leave."