Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU petition

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Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU is a petition submitted to the UK Parliament petitions website calling on the UK government to revoke article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, and remain a member state of the European Union. Following the referendum of 23 June 2016, in which the electorate of the United Kingdom voted by 17,410,742 to 16,141,241 to leave the European Union, the United Kingdom invocation of Article 50 occurred on 29 March 2017. This set a deadline for leaving the EU of 29 March 2019 which was later extended to 31 October 2019. [1]

Contents

By 24 March 2019, the petition had received 5 million signatures, and is the most-signed petition to the UK parliament on record; [2] it reached 6 million on 31 March, and closed on 20 August with a total of 6,103,056 signatures.

Background

On Thursday 23 June 2016, the United Kingdom held a referendum in which the electorate voted, by 17,410,742 to 16,141,241 to leave the European Union, with a turnout of 72.2%. [3] As a result, on 29 March 2017 the UK Government invoked Article 50 to inform the European Council that they intended to leave the union on 29 March 2019. [4] The European Council subsequently agreed that this deadline could be extended, and UK law changes are planned to do that. [5] [6] Following a ruling in December 2018 by the European Court of Justice that the United Kingdom may legally revoke Article 50, the petition to do so was started on 20 February 2019 by a former college lecturer. [7] At first slow to accrue signatures, it grew in popularity after British Prime Minister Theresa May claimed that she would not be asking the EU for a prolonged extension to Article 50. [8]

Objective

The petition directly asks the government to revoke article 50 and therefore keep the United Kingdom in the European Union. It reads:

"The government repeatedly claims exiting the EU is the will of the people. We need to put a stop to this claim by proving the strength of public support now for remaining in the EU. A people's vote may not happen, so vote now." [9]

Support

On 21 March 2019 the petition reached one million signatures and had the highest recorded rate of any petition on the UK Parliament petitions website, almost 2,000 per minute, [10] [11] causing the site to crash due to high site traffic. [7] It passed 4.5 million signatures on 23 March [12] – the day that an estimated one million people [12] protested in favour of a "People's Vote" in London – becoming the most-signed UK Parliament online petition, surpassing the previous record of 4,150,262 signatures. [13] It is also considered to be the most-signed petition to the UK parliament of any type on record, surpassing a petition from 1990 that protested reductions to the ambulance service, which was signed by 4.5 million people. [2] On 24 March the petition surpassed 5 million signatures. [14] On 31 March it reached 6 million signatures. [15]

The BBC cited expert opinions that the petition was unlikely to have been adversely affected by bots, as prior petitions had been. [16] A Channel 4 report stated that it was possible to sign the petition using a false identity, but concluded that such manipulation would be reasonably obvious if it were being done on a large scale. It found no evidence of people boasting about hacking this petition in online forums, unlike another Brexit-related petition from 2016. [17]

Heat map

A heat map published by gov.uk showed that urban areas with overwhelmingly remain constituencies signed the petition the most times, with especially large proportions of the electorate signing in Bristol, Edinburgh, Manchester, Oxford, London, Cambridge, and Brighton. [18] [19] In contrast, predominantly leave areas such as Walsall North, saw just 2.6% of the electorate signing the petition. [20] People from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, areas that largely voted to "remain" in the 2016 referendum, were slower to sign the petition, with the exception of Edinburgh which has a large student population. [20] [21]

Notable supporters

A number of celebrities and high-profile politicians have publicly stated that they have signed the petition, including; [10] [11] [22]

Celebrities

Politicians

Outcomes

The Department for Exiting the European Union responded to the petition on 26 March, stating that it would 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. The government acknowledges the considerable number of people who have signed this petition. However, close to three-quarters of the electorate took part in the 2016 referendum, trusting that the result would be respected." [23] [24] The petition was debated in Parliament on 1 April 2019 in its secondary chamber, Westminster Hall. [25]

Petition author

The creator of the petition, 77-year-old Margaret Georgiadou, is a retired college lecturer. She said "I became like every other Remainer–very frustrated that we've been silenced and ignored for so long." [26] After two days she received death threats but she said her petition aimed to show there was a change in public attitude: "I want it to prove it (Brexit) is no longer the will of the people. It was three years ago but the government has become infamous for changing their mind – so why can't the people?". She reported receiving three anonymous death threats by phone, and a torrent of abuse via social media. [27]

Related Research Articles

An online petition is a form of petition which is signed online, usually through a form on a website. Visitors to the online petition sign the petition by adding their details such as name and email address. Typically, after there are enough signatories, the resulting letter may be delivered to the subject of the petition, usually via e-mail. The online petition may also deliver an email to the target of the petition each time the petition is signed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Withdrawal from the European Union</span> Legal process of Article 50 of the Treaty of European Union

Withdrawal from the European Union is the legal and political process whereby an EU member state ceases to be a member of the Union. Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) states that "Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum</span> A plebiscite

On 23 June 2016, a referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country should remain a member of, or leave, the European Union (EU). It was organised and facilitated through the European Union Referendum Act 2015 and the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. The referendum resulted in 51.9% of the votes cast being in favour of leaving the EU. Although the referendum was legally non-binding, the government of the time promised to implement the result.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brexit</span> UK withdrawal from the European Union (2020)

Brexit was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020. The UK is the only sovereign country to have left the EU. The UK had been a member state of the EU or its predecessor, the European Communities (EC), since 1 January 1973. Following Brexit, EU law and the Court of Justice of the European Union no longer have primacy over British laws. The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 retains relevant EU law as domestic law, which the UK can amend or repeal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Union Referendum Act 2015</span> United Kingdom legislation

The European Union Referendum Act 2015 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made legal provision for a consultative referendum to be held in the United Kingdom and Gibraltar, on whether it should remain a member state of the European Union or leave the bloc altogether. The Bill was introduced to the House of Commons by Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary on 28 May 2015. Two weeks later, the second reading of the Bill was supported by MPs from all parties except the SNP; the Bill subsequently passed on its third reading in the Commons on 7 September 2015. It was approved by the House of Lords on 14 December 2015, and given Royal Assent on 17 December 2015. The Act came partly into force on the same day and came into full legal force on 1 February 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proposed second Scottish independence referendum</span>

A second referendum on independence from the United Kingdom (UK) has been proposed by the Scottish Government. An independence referendum was first held on 18 September 2014, with 55% voting "No" to independence. The Scottish Government stated in its white paper for independence that voting Yes was a "once in a generation opportunity to follow a different path, and choose a new and better direction for our nation". Following the "No" vote, the cross party Smith Commission proposed areas that could be devolved to the Scottish Parliament; this led to the passing of the Scotland Act 2016, formalising new devolved policy areas in time for the 2016 Scottish Parliament election campaign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UK Parliament petitions website</span> Website where the public can petition the British Parliament

The UK Parliament petitions website (e-petitions) allows members of the public to create and support petitions for consideration by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Although the UK Parliament's Petitions Committee considers all petitions which receive 100,000 signatures or more, there is no automatic parliamentary debate of those that pass this threshold. The Government will respond to all petitions with more than 10,000 signatures.

After the British EU membership referendum held on 23 June 2016, in which a majority voted to leave the European Union, the United Kingdom experienced political and economic upsets, with spillover effects across the rest of the European Union and the wider world. Prime Minister David Cameron, who had campaigned for Remain, announced his resignation on 24 June, triggering a Conservative leadership election, won by Home Secretary Theresa May. Following Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn's loss of a motion of no confidence among the Parliamentary Labour Party, he also faced a leadership challenge, which he won. Nigel Farage stepped down from leadership of the pro-Leave party UKIP in July. After the elected party leader resigned, Farage then became the party's interim leader on 5 October until Paul Nuttall was elected leader on 28 November.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Kingdom invocation of Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union</span> Invocation of the EUs withdrawal process for "Brexit"

On 29 March 2017, the United Kingdom (UK) invoked Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) which began the member state's withdrawal, commonly known as Brexit, from the European Union (EU). In compliance with the TEU, the UK gave formal notice to the European Council of its intention to withdraw from the EU to allow withdrawal negotiations to begin.

<i>R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union</i> Constitutional decision of Supreme Court

R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union is a United Kingdom constitutional law case decided by the United Kingdom Supreme Court on 24 January 2017, which ruled that the British Government might not initiate withdrawal from the European Union by formal notification to the Council of the European Union as prescribed by Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union without an Act of Parliament giving the government Parliament's permission to do so. Two days later, the government responded by bringing to Parliament the European Union Act 2017 for first reading in the House of Commons on 26 January 2017. The case is informally referred to as "the Miller case" or "Miller I".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brexit negotiations</span> Negotiations for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union

Between 2017 and 2019, representatives of the United Kingdom and the European Union negotiated the terms for Brexit, the planned withdrawal of the UK from the EU. These negotiations arose following the decision of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to invoke Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, following the UK's EU membership referendum on 23 June 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Kingdom membership of the European Union</span> Period of the United Kingdom being a member state of the European Union

The United Kingdom was a member state of the European Union (EU) and of its predecessor the European Communities (EC) – principally the European Economic Community (EEC) from 1 January 1973 until 31 January 2020. Since the foundation of the EEC, the UK had been an important neighbour and then leading member state, until Brexit ended 47 years of membership. During the UK's time as a member state two referendums were held on the issue of its membership, with the first being held on 5 June 1975, resulting in a vote to stay in the EC, and the second, held on 23 June 2016, which resulted in the vote to leave the EU.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">People's Vote</span> UK campaign group that called for a further public vote on Brexit

People's Vote was a United Kingdom campaign group that unsuccessfully campaigned for a second referendum following the UK's Brexit vote to leave the European Union (EU) in 2016. The group was launched in April 2018 at which four Members of Parliament spoke, along with the actor Patrick Stewart and other public figures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brexit withdrawal agreement</span> 2020 EU–UK agreement for implementing Brexit

The Brexit withdrawal agreement, officially titled Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, is a treaty between the European Union (EU), Euratom, and the United Kingdom (UK), signed on 24 January 2020, setting the terms of the withdrawal of the UK from the EU and Euratom. The text of the treaty was published on 17 October 2019, and is a renegotiated version of an agreement published half a year earlier. The earlier version of the withdrawal agreement was rejected by the House of Commons on three occasions, leading to the resignation of Theresa May as Prime Minister and the appointment of Boris Johnson as the new prime minister on 24 July 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proposed referendum on the Brexit withdrawal agreement</span> Proposed referendum on the Brexit withdrawal agreement

A referendum on the Brexit withdrawal agreement, also referred to as a "second referendum", a "rerun", a "people's vote", or a "confirmatory public vote", was proposed by a number of politicians and pressure groups as a way to break the deadlock during the 2017–19 Parliament surrounding the meaningful vote on the Brexit deal.

Brexit was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020. As of 2020, the UK is the only sovereign country to have left the EU. Britain's membership of the EU began on 1 January 1973, when it entered the European Communities (EC), the predecessor to the EU. Following this, Eurosceptic groups formed in the UK, opposing aspects of both the EC and the EU. In January 2013, Prime Minister David Cameron delivered a speech at Bloomberg London, in which he called for reform of the EU and promised an in–out referendum on the UK's membership if the Conservative Party won a majority at the 2015 general election. The Conservatives won 330 seats at the election, giving Cameron a majority of 12, and a bill to hold a referendum was introduced to Parliament that month.

In the wake of the referendum held in the United Kingdom on 23 June 2016, many new pieces of Brexit-related jargon entered popular use.

Following the referendum in the United Kingdom on its membership of the European Union on 23 June 2016, polling companies continued to use standard questions in order to gauge public opinion on the country's relationship with the EU. Opinion polling overall showed an initial fall in support for Brexit from the referendum to late 2016, when responses were split evenly between support and opposition. Support rose again to a plurality, which held until the 2017 general election. Since then, opinion polls tended to show a plurality of support for remaining in the EU or for the view that Brexit was a mistake, with the estimated margin increasing until a small decrease in 2019. This seems to be largely due to a preference for remaining in the EU among those who did not vote in 2016's referendum. Other reasons suggested include slightly more Leave voters than Remain voters changing how they would vote and the deaths of older voters, most of whom voted to leave the EU.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pro-EU leaflet</span> 2016 UK Government pamphlet

"Why the Government Believes That Voting to Remain in the European Union is the Best Decision for the UK" was a one-off pamphlet created in April 2016 by the government of the United Kingdom. The leaflet was created in anticipation of the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum in June, which would ask the British public whether the UK should leave the EU. After internal polling revealed that 85 per cent of the public wanted more information before making their decision, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the government would send a leaflet to households across the UK, explaining why remaining in the EU was the best choice for the UK. The leaflets were paid for by British taxpayers at a cost of £9.3 million, and were delivered across the UK in two waves: the first to households in England, and the second to households in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

References

  1. ↑ Andrew Sparrow (12 April 2019). "EU leaders agree to delay Brexit until 31 October – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  2. 1 2 Helier Cheung (26 March 2019). "Brexit debate: Do petitions ever work?". BBC. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  3. ↑ "EU referendum morning briefing: the result". The Guardian. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "Brexit: Article 50 has been triggered – what now?". BBC News. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  5. ↑ "Brexit: Departure date pushed back by at least two weeks". BBC. 22 March 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  6. ↑ "Brexit: MPs set out plan to consider alternatives to PM's deal". BBC News. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  7. 1 2 "'Cancel Brexit' petition hits 1m signatures". 22 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  8. ↑ Stokel-Walker, Chris (21 March 2019). "How a petition to revoke Article 50 blew up and broke the internet". Wired UK. ISSN   1357-0978 . Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  9. ↑ Hern, Alex (21 March 2019). "Petition to revoke article 50 exceeds 1m signatures amid site crashes". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  10. 1 2 "Petition to revoke Article 50 has 'highest recorded signing rate'". The Irish News. 21 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  11. 1 2 Morales, Alex; Shankleman, Jess (21 March 2019). "Stop Brexit Petition Passes Two Million Names as Delay Looms". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 2019-03-21. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  12. 1 2 Toby Helm; Michael Savage (23 March 2019). "One million join march against Brexit as Tories plan to oust May". Observer. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  13. ↑ Hern, Alex (22 March 2019). "Petition to revoke article 50 hits 3.5m signatures". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  14. ↑ "Petition to revoke Article 50 and remain in EU reaches 5 million signatures". The National. 24 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  15. ↑ Forrest, Adam (31 March 2019). "Revoke Article 50 petition calling for Brexit to be cancelled hits 6 million signatures". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  16. ↑ Kleinman, Zoe (2019-03-22). "Why bots probably aren't gaming the 'Cancel Brexit' petition". BBC News. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  17. ↑ Patrick Worrall (22 March 2019). "Is the "stop Brexit" petition reliable?". Channel 4. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  18. ↑ "'Cancel Brexit' petition hits 2m signatures". BBC News. BBC. 21 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  19. ↑ "Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU". Petition Map. Unboxed Consulting. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  20. 1 2 Pattie, Charles; Manley, David; Johnston, Ron. "Revoke Article 50 petition: largely Remainers signing – but there's a surprising twist". The Conversation. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  21. ↑ "Petition Map (by Unboxed)". petitionmap.unboxedconsulting.com. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  22. ↑ Grant, Alistair (22 March 2019). "Pressure mounts to revoke Article 50 amid Brexit chaos". Herald Scotland. Herald & Times Group. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  23. ↑ Guardian Staff; agencies (2019-03-27). "Government rejects Brexit petition to revoke article 50 signed by 5.8 million people". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  24. ↑ "Government rejects petition to revoke article 50 and remain in EU". JOE.co.uk. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  25. ↑ "Article 50: MPs debate six-million-signature petition". BBC News. 1 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  26. ↑ "'Cancel Brexit' petition passes 2m signatures on Parliament site". BBC News. 21 March 2019.
  27. ↑ "Death threats for Brexit petition woman". BBC News. 23 March 2019.
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