SIGN THE PETITION TO REVOKE ARTICLE 50- Update
Petition to cancel BREXIT passes 1m 3m 5m signatures on Parliament site
THURSDAY 21ST MARCH 2019
A petition calling for Theresa May to cancel Brexit by revoking Article 50 has passed a million signatures and was approaching 1.1m at 4pm on Thursday. By 3pm Friday 22nd the figure had passed 3.3m. On Sunday afternoon it topped the 5m. Most of the Suffolk constituencies had recorded around 8k signatures; someway to go to beat Bristol West with over 31k signatures and running.
Parliament's petitions committee tweeted that the rate of signatures was "the highest the site has ever had to deal with", after the website crashed.The Petitions Committee said that at one point there were nearly 2,000 signatures a minute.
It comes as the prime minister is in Brussels to ask the EU for a delay to next Friday's Brexit date.
The European Court of Justice ruled in December 2108 that the UK can unilaterally revoke Article 50 of the Treaty of the European Union.
This means the UK can decide to stay in the EU without the consent of the 27 other member states.
Margaret Anne Georgiadou, who started the petition, is quoted as saying "I became like every other Remainer - very frustrated that we've been silenced and ignored for so long. "So I think now it's almost like a dam bursting, because we've been held back in a sense - it's almost like last chance saloon now."
Earlier this year MPs debated whether the UK should leave the EU without a deal,after a petition calling for that got 371,673 signatures.
MPs have been sharing the revoke Article 50 petition on social media, including Lib Dem Brexit spokesman Tom Brake, who said Mrs May's "cliff-edge ultimatum" had led "hundreds of thousands" to sign.
Lib Dem Tom Brake MP, Twitter post by @thomasbrake shared the petition and called on the public to sign. Pete Wishart MP, was among a number of SNP MPs who called to "end the madness". Labour MPs also urged the public to sign.
Commons leader Andrea Leadsom MP said "Should it reach 17.4 million respondents then I am sure there will be a very clear case for taking action," she told MPs.
A House of Commons spokesperson said the site crashed today because of "a large and sustained load on the system".
The petition 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."
We urge all who wish to bring some sanity to the Brexit crisis and create space for a public vote to sign this Petition.
END