A petition to cancel Brexit has been signed by 6,000,000 people in little over a week – but the Government is still not taking any notice.
The campaign to revoke article 50 is the most popular online protest in history with thousands signing every minute. However, Theresa May has said she ‘will not countenance’ cancelling Brexit as doing so would cause ‘potentially irreparable damage to public trust’.
The petition rejects the claim that Brexit is the ‘will of the people’ and calls for the revocation of the Article 50 letter, which Mrs May triggered in March 2017 giving Britain two years to get its act together before leaving the EU. It is due to be debated by MPs on Monday after smashing the 100,000 threshold for consideration and becoming the best-supported proposal on the Government’s e-petitions website.
“This Government will not revoke Article 50”
But in an official response, the Government said: “This Government will not revoke Article 50”. “We will honour the result of the 2016 referendum and work with Parliament to deliver a deal that ensures we leave the European Union.”
This Government will not revoke Article 50
Margaret Anne Georgiadou, who set up the petition, has found herself the target of death threats as it increased in popularity. The former college lecturer wrote on Twitter: “Last night I had three telephoned death threats. Who wants Brexit so much that they are prepared to kill for it?”
The petition’s support was concentrated in London and constituencies around Cambridge, Brighton, Bristol, Oxford and Edinburgh, all of which voted remain in the 2016 referendum. Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom previously stated the petition was ineffective unless on the scale of the original vote almost three years ago. “Should it reach 17.4million, I am sure there will be a very clear case for taking action,” she said. Ms Georgiadou tweeted in response: “If loathesome Leadsom wants 17.4m she will have them. I would enjoy ramming that number down her necklaced throat. We have until August 20.”
With the petition showing no sign of stopping, Ms Leadsom may have to eat those words.
