Over 1 million sign petition for do-over of UK vote

Brexit, the day after: Demand for 2nd go at EU referendum gains momentum, with tens of thousands signing by the hour

BY TIMES OF ISRAEL STAFF, AFP AND AP June 25, 2016, 11:17 am Updated: June 25, 2016,

An online petition to the British parliament demanding a second UK referendum on whether to remain in the European Union received a surge of support over the weekend, nearing 1 million signatures within a day of being set up.

The petition was gaining tens of thousands of new signatures by the hour.

“We the undersigned call upon HM Government to implement a rule that if the remain or leave vote is less than 60% based on a turnout less than 75% there should be another referendum,” wrote creator William Oliver Healey.

Britons voted by 52 to 48 percent Thursday to abandon the bloc after 43 years of often troubled membership. Turnout on Thursday was at 72.2% of registered voters.

So many users were accessing the House of Commons website to urge a do-over of the vote that they temporarily crashed the website, though the issue appeared to have been solved by Saturday.

Parliament said it had seen “high volumes of simultaneous users on a single petition, significantly higher than on any previous occasion.”

A map of the voting indicated that most activity was in London — where most boroughs backed the “remain” camp in the referendum.

Parliament is required to respond to any petition that passes the 100,000 signature mark.

A second referendum isn’t in the cards for now, but experts say it isn’t out of the question if those who back a British exit begin suffering from buyer’s remorse.

Meanwhile over 100,000 people signed a petition for London to stay in the European Union on Friday, as Mayor Sadiq Khan said the city must have a say in Britain’s exit negotiations.

The petition on the change.org website called: “Declare London independent from the UK and apply to join the EU.”

Sixty percent of Londoners voted for Britain to stay in the union.

“London is an international city, and we want to remain at the heart of Europe,” the petition said.

“Let’s face it — the rest of the country disagrees. So rather than passive aggressively vote against each other at every election, let’s make the divorce official and move in with our friends on the continent.

“This petition is calling on Mayor Sadiq Khan to declare London independent, and apply to join the EU,” it said.

Khan himself issued a statement on the negotiations for Britain’s departure from the EU.

“It is crucial that London has a voice at the table during those renegotiations, alongside Scotland and Northern Ireland,” the pro-EU mayor said.

“Although we will be outside the EU, it is crucial that we remain part of the single market,” he said.

“Leaving the single market of 500 million people — with its free-trade benefits — would be a mistake. I will be pushing the government to ensure this is the cornerstone of the negotiations with the EU,” he said.