According to the page of the petition launched on the Parliament website, its aim is to "prove the strength of current public support to stay in the EU".
An online petition calling on the British government to renounce Brexit has surpassed three million signatures Friday, garnering a dazzling success two days after its launch.
According to the page of the petition launched on the Parliament website, its aim is to "prove the strength of current public support to stay in the EU". Another referendum "could never be organized, so vote now", we can also read, while the deputies last week rejected the option of a second consultation of the British.
Signatories include British celebrities such as actor Hugh Grant and singer Annie Lennox. The petition very quickly surpassed the threshold of 100,000 signatures needed to be potentially debated at Westminster. However, this debate can not "directly change the law or give rise to a vote to implement the request of the petition," says the website of Parliament.
"Anyone residing in the United Kingdom or being a British citizen can sign the petition"
This type of petition allows the British to "put their concerns on the political agenda," Sara Hobolt, an expert on public opinion at the London School of Economics (LSE), told AFP. is not "a way to make democratic decisions in the same way as elections and referendums".
Brexit was decided by 52% of the votes in June 2016. Originally scheduled for March 29th, it was postponed at the request of the government, in April or even end of May, depending on the outcome of the Parliament's next vote on the agreement. withdrawal. "Anyone residing in the United Kingdom or being a British citizen can sign the petition.This includes British citizens living abroad," tweeted Parliament.
If no proof of residence or citizenship is required to sign, "a number of automatic and manual techniques" are used "to identify and block the signatures of robots" or "to detect any fraudulent activity", affirmed the Parliament to AFP.