MORE THAN 1 million people have signed a petition to have a second referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU.
This comes after Thursday’s vote which saw the British public decide 51.9% to 48.1% to exit the union.
Since the result became apparent yesterday morning doubt has been cast over the future of the UK.
The immediate fallout has seen calls by the SNP in Scotland for another vote on independent from the United Kingdom, and Sinn Féin requesting a border poll in Northern Ireland.
The petition was started by William Oliver Healey and states:
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.
Turnout in the vote hit 72.2% – a high point not surpassed in a general election since 1992 – but below the three-quarters coverage suggested by Healey.
For a petition to go before the UK’s parliament it only requires 100,000 signatures.
The petition will now be considered by the Petitions Committee which is due to sit again on Tuesday.
Another petition has also been set up calling for London – which voted heavily in favour of remaining in the EU – to declare itself independent of the UK and apply to rejoin the politico-economic union.
The petition on Change.org has been started by James O’Malley and states:
London is an international city, and we want to remain at the heart of Europe.
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 – including membership of the Schengen Zone (umm, we’ll talk about the euro…).
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