Fact check: the Observer’s ‘one million students’ back second Brexit vote report

Here we go. With David Miliband dipping his toe back into UK politics as part of the ‘stop Hard (any) Brexit’ campaign, there appears to be a new momentum to Remain efforts. In this vein, Mr S read the Observer‘s splash this weekend with particular interest. The paper reports ‘one million students join calls for vote on Brexit deal’.

So, is this the start of something big? A number that could tip the scales in the facour of Remain in a future vote?

THE OBSERVER: One million students join call for vote on Brexit deal #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/NeEq6zpfHC

— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) May 12, 2018

Perhaps not. What the headline doesn’t tell you is that rather than 1,000,000 students, it’s actually a mere 120 NUS student officers who ‘represent’ nearly a million students:

‘Amatey Doku, deputy president of the National Union of Students, said: “When over 120 elected student officers, representing nearly a million young people, call for something with one clear voice, they need to be listened to.