Thousands of people gathered in Trafalgar Square on Tuesday evening to say that they don't wanna leave the EU. The event was technically canceled due to safety concerns, since so many people had clicked "attending" on Facebook before anyone had a chance to organize some metal barriers and notify the police. People showed up anyway and stood in the rain waving banners and chanting "we love EU" to show that they're not happy with the result of the referendum. The Leave campaign was built on a tissue of lies and xenophobia to boost a few political careers at the expense of the country's wellbeing, sure. But fair's fair—they won, right? I headed down to ask the attendees whether the demonstration was just a big case of sour grapes.
Natascia
Absolutely not sour grapes! I think people are really hurting from the result last week and they just feel like they want to get together with like minded people to share in the sadness. They're also here to send out a positive message to people from the EU who live here. They're welcome and we want them to be here.
Kim and John
Kim: I think it's to show support—to the world and the rest of Europe. To show that not all of the UK agrees with leaving, that a lot of people want to stay in the EU; especially young people. There's a will to stay united and not everyone agrees with this terrible decision.
John: People don't believe in the decision made. I'm unbiased about it, I just hope that people don't start to hate each other over it.
Jason
There's a lot of Europeans in London whom want to show that people don't agree with the results of the referendum. I didn't vote to leave. I work with a Greek girl and she is really worried about what's going to happen. I also have Spanish friends. I'm here to show my support for them.
Alex and Sebastien
Alex: It's far more than sour grapes. As people who live in London we feel deserve the right to the safety offered by the European Union. The entire country is better off with the regulations that they impose.
Sebastien: Yeah, I think rather than regret and trying to protest it's more about bringing hope—about trying to bring the movement forward instead of focusing on the past.
Anton
I think there is a big uproar from both remain and leave voters over the fact that Nigel Farage, Michael Gove, and Boris Johnson lied in many ways to the voters. For Boris it was just a tactic to get into Number Ten. Farage is hell bent on destroying the EU. He's a racist. He's a fascist. Everyone knows it. They predicted has come true. The market is falling apart. The pound is down. Even if it's climbing now a little bit, our currency is now crap. We need to do something because there is a lot of "Bregret" out there. This is not the right path for the country.
Ryan
I think we just want to express what we're feeling. And we feel that in this time of instability we have no idea what's going to happen. But we want to tell the government that we still have hope and we want to have the EU reunited with us. Or rather, we never break apart from them.
Helena
I think it's because 70 percent of London voted to remain in the EU. That's why.
Sophie
You need to give me a hug!
VICE: Er, OK. *Hugs awkwardly*. So do you think this is this just sour grapes?
I can't speak for everyone here but some people may be here because they believe that the decision can be reversed. For a lot of people I imagine they just need that feeling of warmth and unity. That's why I'm here. I am incredibly worried and I want to show that no matter what happens, we are family. My husband is English—my son is half English and half French. I want to show that we are all the same.
Thomas
People are here because they lost. That's the problem. The only people who won are the bankers and the racists. We ordinary people—the pure people, the ones facing austerity, the people in debt. We're the ones who lose.
Debbie
It's absolutely not sour grapes at all. This referendum should never have taken place. 48 percent of us do not want it to go through. They should listen to us. Either let's have a second referendum or make a U-turn. It shouldn't have been called in the first place and we're here to let people know we're not happy about it.
Follow Christ Bethell on Twitter.
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