A rally in London to campaign for a second Brexit referendum has featured a joint appearance by the television presenter Gary Lineker and Jo Johnson, with the recently resigned rail minister arguing that the public had been “duped” over the likely terms of departure and needed a new say.

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The packed event at Westminster Central Hall, co-organised by the People’s Vote and Best for Britain groups, had a promised lineup featuring a number of remain-minded MPs, as well as an unnamed special guest.

This turned out to be Lineker, with the BBC Match of the Day presenter initially appearing in a video message to say that, while he voted remain, he initially believed it was right to accept Brexit should happen.

He said: “I think it’s fair to say that back then we didn’t really know what it would entail, the ramifications of leaving the European Union. It’s becoming clear that there are very few positives. It’s almost unanimous that people think it will have some sort of debilitating effect on our economy, at the very least.”

A second referendum would be a chance to reassess, he said. “I think it’s very rare in life that you get to use the benefit of hindsight.”

Lineker then appeared on stage to noisy applause from the crowd, where he was joined by Johnson, who left government on Friday, saying Theresa May was offering the public a false choice of the “vassalage” of her planned agreement or the “chaos” of Brexit.

As the pair sat on chairs facing each other, Lineker began: “First and foremost, Jo, what did you think of Manchester United’s formation?”, before allowing Johnson to explain that he had also believed it was right to “try and make a success of Brexit”.

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Johnson said: “But it became pretty clear to me over the months, as the Chequers proposals came out in the summer in that white paper, that we weren’t going to get a deal in the national interest. I began to have very serious concerns about whether we were going to be able to make a success of Brexit.”

The public was, he said, “never going to have a Brexit that matches in any way the fantastical promises of the false prospectus that was made”.

Johnson said this eventually led to his resignation: “It was that realisation, really, that the public had been duped, that they were going to get a deal that didn’t reflect at all what they thought they were getting.”

Asked if he had discussed the issue with his brother, Boris, the leading Brexiter and former foreign secretary, Johnson said: “We speak about all issues and we’ve got different views on Brexit. But the funny thing is we’re absolutely united in our analysis that this deal is not in the national interest.”

He urged the Conservatives to not take the UK “into this absurd new relationship with the EU, where vast swaths of our economy will be governed by rules that we’ll have had no hand at all in shaping. It’s completely unsustainable and unacceptable for a proud democracy such as ours”.

The rally also heard from MPs including the Tory MP and former education secretary Justine Greening and the Green party MP Caroline Lucas, who said: “We will not be bullied into accepting that there is no alternative,” adding there was “a bloody obvious alternative” of a second referendum.