Former MP David Miliband pays for free travel for those joining the People's Vote March

The ex-MP is one of a number of actors, musicians, broadcasters, comedians and politicians who have put their hands in their pockets to sponsor transport to enable people to travel to London on October 20, to take part in what is expected to be the biggest Brexit protest to date.

The People’s Vote March for the Future aims to campaign for a second referendum following the outcome of the negotiations currently being discussed between the European Union and Prime Minister Theresa May over the country’s EU exit.

Mr Miliband - who was MP for South Shields between 2001 and 2013 and was also Foreign Secretary in the last Labour government - said: “This campaign is for people to voice their concerns on what is likely to be unfulfilled promises on Brexit.

“On October 20, we need to get as many people from all over the country, to demand a final say on the future for everyone irrespective of their status. The British people should not be underestimated! Let them judge the final outcome.”

The march will take place in London and will see protesters, including famous faces comedian Eddie Izzard and TV historian Dan Show, walk from Hyde Park to Parliament Square.

A previous mass demonstration on June 23 attracted more than 100,000 people and since then evidence that the UK is headed for a deeply divisive Brexit has electrified the People’s Vote campaign.

People’s Vote campaign advisor Alastair Campbell, who is funding a coach from the Burnley area and missing his football team’s match against Manchester City to attend the march, said: “In just a couple of days, all of these people have signed up to fund the free coach travel scheme and we are confident that as more get to hear of it, more will want to offer their support in this way. Anyone who wants to sponsor a coach just needs to get in touch.

“In her conference speech Theresa May dismissed the People’s Vote as a campaign by politicians. Not for the first time, she is totally misreading the mood of the country. It is not a politicians’ campaign – if only! This is a movement of people of all backgrounds and all regions who see Brexit going wrong and want a say on the outcome of the negotiations, whether there is a deal or not. And the fact she felt the need to mention it at all shows how far we have come in so short a time.”

Anyone interested in travelling from the South Shields area to the march is asked to email Frank Hindle, North East for Europe at [email protected]