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AN ONLINE PETITION calling for a re-run of Britain’s EU membership referendum, which amassed over four million votes, has been dismissed.
The petition, which called for a new referendum given that a certain quota hadn’t been reached, was quashed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in a statement.
Last month’s vote saw the British public choose to leave the EU by a margin of 52% to 48%.
“We the undersigned call upon Her Majesty’s Government to implement a rule that if the remain or leave vote is less than 60% based a turnout less than 75% there should be another referendum,” the petition reads.
The petition garnered 4,127,123 signatures.
Today’s response by the UK government says that the EU referendum act “did not set a threshold for the result or for minimum turnout”.
“The referendum was one of the biggest democratic exercises in British history with over 33 million people having their say,” the FCO’s statement reads.
The prime minister and government have been clear that this was a once in a generation vote and, as the prime minister has said, the decision must be respected.
“We must now prepare for the process to exit the EU and the Government is committed to ensuring the best possible outcome for the British people in the negotiations.”
Last month’s referendum result provoked anger on the Remain side, most especially among younger voters who voted overwhelmingly to stay in the EU.
The result saw prime minister David Cameron fall on his own sword, with his place currently being hotly contested by Conservative MPs Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom.
The result has also triggered the creation of a pop-up newspaper, entitled The New European, aimed at the 48% of the electorate who voted to stay in the EU.
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Would they not adopt the Irish Political “Are you sure now lads?” Second vote system?
More like, “Right, we’ll keep voting until ye get this right!”
@Brian Guilfoyle
I think that Nicola Sturgeon wishes to adopt that system.
Ciaran, what she wants is not the E.U. but independence… And any excuse will do?
And Scotland shall be fully independent before Ireland ever will! Oh and it shall happen without any bloodshed and the murdering of thousands of innocent people.
Brexit will happen weather you like it or not. No way will England be determined by Germany. Scotland doesn’t matter when it comes to this. The EU is dying anyway
Doesn’t the fact that the Irish changed their minds both times justify holding those referendum again?
Nothing about making the irish vote again was justified.
Former EU commissioner chief becomes chairman of Goldman Sachs. See how it works? https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jul/08/jose-manuel-barroso-to-become-next-head-of-goldman-sachs-international
Eh, have I missed something? Is the Republic of Ireland not an independent political state/country? Have we been suddenly annexed by some super power whilst I slept peacefully in my bed last night?
Yes.
Sure is’nt Enda great at telling everyone what to do, He went to Scotland advised them Then contacted the Egyption president/ambasador or who ever he was & told him how to run his jails. Enda suggested an open door system Leave when you want. Arent you a great lad Enda. Off you go over & give them your advice. Can you stay there when you get there.
Weird woman, independence from the UK to go and join the slave masters
The Republic of Ireland is a football team, the official name of the country is Ireland, or Éire.
17 milli9n people VOTED to leave. 4 million signed a petition
Only 300,000 at best were genuine signatures…
The UK are leaving and Ireland needs to follow, but the country going to sh. It will need to push the process along unfortunately.
The E.U. has positive values but the corruption and greed that runs it, is too dangerous. You can not like something for the propaganda, a few good points and ignore the dangers. The E.U. is run by bankers rather than by governments or the people, it is a corporate monster now seeming run by U.S. banks looking for customers, the more the better and using immigration to lower wages and to increase profits for banks.
Had to get federal Europe to try stamp out corruption in this country. Look at the corruption league tables. France and Germany up there while we are way down. Not to mention we had to be brought to the European court for pumping shite onto our beaches. Get real dick head.
Never mind a second referendum. Just ignore this referendum, it has no legal standing and is merely advisory.
Let parliament have a free vote on membership. If parliament votes to leave, then as the sovereign entity, that is the end of it.
And let us never ever have a referendum on anything again other than personal social issues such as gay marriage.
Fred ‘Fascist’ Johnson – You are frightening Fred – you have some very scary ideas!
And that coming from Bingo is certainly a telling tale.
While it’s true there are MAJOR concerns about the European Commission and European Central Bank (and the failure of the European Parliament to democratically hold them to account), leaving the E.U. would still leave us with Irish politicians in even greater power.
@ bingo – do you need a safe space?
@shawn So 4 million people are just insignificant?
A online poll of 4 million people is not only insignificant but irrelevant when it comes to governing a country.
What about starting another petition to get them to reconsider the first petition?
4 million people are insignificant to 17.4 million.
Padraig, Produce a fascist statement that I have made. You are a typical regressive leftist bully – you simply call names when you have no argument. Considering Fred actually wants to ignore a democratic vote – it is fitting to refer to him as fascist – now produce evidence regarding me being fascist. You can’t and so you probably won’t reply.
Fred, No. I think you do – freedom and democracy too much for you?
4 m is almost a quarter of 17.4 m.
It’s two Dublins, or half of Ireland…
So no, 4 m is not insignificant.
Shane, even the most cynical ruler knows that 4 m people can’t just be ignored when they express themselves.
But prouesse f…you purposely leave out the fact that 3.7 million of those vote were not cast from the .co.uk area….only 300,000 were from the Uk itself….the rest were from around the world…..should the UK government now take instruction from other countries?
Bingo – another name for direct democracy would be mob rule. You do not get a gold star every time you tell us how much you love democracy. I am absolutely correct when i say this referendum is non-binding, has no legal standing, and that sovereignty rests with parliament alone.
And how many protesters in London were genuine people?
Well, they’re not going to ignore the result, otherwise what was the point in calling the referendum in the 1st place?
Yes parliament may be sovereign, but they don’t generally ignore referendum results – if they do, its at their peril…
The result is clearcut – Brexit means Brexit. The UK is leaving the EU, the 43 year marriage is finally over.
Well, they’re not going to ignore the result, otherwise what was the point in calling the referendum in the 1st place?
Yes parliament may be sovereign, but they don’t generally ignore referendum results – if they do, its at their peril…
The result is clearcut – Brexit means Brexit. The UK is leaving the EU, the 43 year marriage is finally over.
Correct decision. The online petition was, apparently, heavily accessed by non-UK nationals and the petition is, therefore, void.
Oh…..that poor dog in the picture stuck with folk that don’t like democracy!…. #sadnessinhiseyes
You must be a fan of sky then ;)
No, as my comments on it are largely posted 24 hours after I write them if I’m lucky, they know how to spin stories to their liking…
That was a joke about you being a fan…
what a stupid article, it didnt mention that the majority of the petition was filled in from around the globe. Journal.ie the jobridge of journalism
Ah Dave, don’t bash the Journalists of The Journal…hits a hard job having to search google/twitter and hitting CTRL C…CTRL V constantly throughout the day. Probably the fittest thumbs and forefingers in the country.
This post-Referendum whinge-fest by the Remain side has left a rotten taste in the mouth of true liberals and those on the left such as myself. Maybe the young hipsters of London who didn’t go out and vote might learn a valuable life lesson regarding apathy,when your trip to your paleo café is more important than voting expect to be disappointed. This petition and the ageist,bigoted reaction to the result and non-acceptance of it is an affront to democracy and liberal values.
Considering a fair amount of signatures came from the Vatican city. This is no surprise. Referendum is done . Get over it.
People all over the world signed it, it was stated that only under 300,000 signatures are genuine.
An example is 29,000 signatures from Vatican City but only 800 live in Vatican City and it is full of that… Not genuine at all.
If the referendum result is ignored or a second referendum was called, with the “stay” side winning, there would be mass civil unrest with rioting on the streets and burning down of Parliament buildings and rightly so. Democracy must not be subverted, it this happens, law abiding citizens in large numbers will take the law into their own hands. For the people who signed the petition demanding a second referendum, be careful what you wish for!
Are you alleging that pro-brexiters are not peaceful people?
People referendums in the UK are not legally binding ! They are parliamentary monarchy state.
Right decision………..given that 2 million of the signatures came from the Vatican City.
It goes to show that the British goverment has respect for their citizens choice unlike the shisters we have when they got the wrong vote acording to their opinion they reran several referendums hence the quagmire we find ourselves in
Surprised Enda didn’t sway it ☺
He did his best with Hogan…
Sure anyone from any country could have signed that petition. It was hardly an “official” document by any means.
The main cause of economic upset is uncertainty, this faffing about the place slowing down the process rather than calling article 50 and getting on with it, will do more damage than the actual act of leaving.
Complete and utter clusterfu(k!
4 million foreigners
Youre not trapped in the UK, move to another eu country, if it means that much to you! Ireland will probably take you for starters :p ironically
Really, no offence but Ireland cant even afford the North. So we can hardly be taking in four million extra English nationals.
Absolutely incorrect. Britain subsidises the North to the tune of £6 billion sterling a year. A study carried out suggested that a united 32 county republic would bring in an extra €30 billion to the economy. http://www.her.ie/news/study-shows-united-ireland-boost-economy-e30-billion/284156
So if they had a second referendum and this time “Stay” won, that would be one all.
Would they then have a decider?
Not it would go to penalties and both sides would lose ;)
They could always do aggregate scores.
or they could have a dance off around the maypole
Nah have another one and take the best of 3.
Europe is sinking
Yes it is Jonny, it’s time for the Irish to wake up!
And do what??
It is not up to the British Government to take that decision! The Petition needs to be considered and voted on in Parliament!
It was up to the British people,and the majority of them voted to leave the EU in a democratic referendum. Maybe you’re more a Pyongyang kinda guy.
It is a fake petition Bernard.
It was never going to be a runner anyway. Online petitions are about as much use as saying “amen” after a Facebook post. They’re way too easily manipulated and there’s nobody really listening anyway.The British people voted to leave and now they must bear the consequences. I see the Austrian president is trying a little reverse psychology to try and hurry them up by saying that they won’t really leave. Sterling is officially the worst performing currency of 2016 so far behind the Argentine Peso , the main political parties are in shreds, the Union is in danger and Brexit hasn’t even begun yet. “Sow the wind” springs to mind.
Paddy, Hasn’t he just stepped down!? I’m not sure it matters what he says now. Also, there is going to be a re-run of the Austrian presidential race….
Of course the fact he stepped down didn’t stop the usual crys of “the *boo hiss* EU elites are going to over throw democracy ” from the Brexiters until it was pointed out that a quick exit is exactly what the *boo hiss* EU wants.
Lads
Amen
Look at the lovely dog
March for Europe, a bit monthist arent they. Why not June for Europe or even August for Europe when its warmer or is that just my sarcasm ;)
Those 4 million, or at least those of that 4 million registered to vote in UK referendums, will have another shot at it within two years, and that’s assuming it gets that far without the serious prospect of an interim government taking a unilateral decision to ignore the public vote we just had.
you can’t overturn a referendum with a petition BUT some people don’t seem to realise that the referendum wasn’t legally binding.
Democracy is more complex than saying yes or no to something.
Ireland at least has years of debate and polls before a referendum.
It’s especially worrying considering all the champions of Brexit (other than fruitbat Leadsom) have either resigned or left the stage
Not to mention that chaos within the ranks of the party which caused the vote in the first instance.
And the political demise of its chief orchestrator Cameron.
“Ireland at least has years of debate and polls before a referendum” And if the correct decision isn’t reached we vote again. Now that’s democracy!
beachmaster >The first vote had a very low turnout the second had more votes. If you want to talk democracy making sure enough people vote to represent the majority is the correct thing to do. I don’t think referendums should be binding without a limit on turnout. in the UK situation it appears there was enough of a turnout although youth turnout appears to be low
Kalpers, I think you’re a remainer? The truth is there is no way you would be asking for a re-run had the vote gone the way you wanted.
Ireland and democracy in the same sentence! Wow. That’s something I never expected to see.
Because we’re a republic not a democracy Rodrigo ya troll
A half assed Republic where the rich and well connected can do as they please!
The rich and well connected do as they please everywhere.
Interestingly, earlier in the campaign, Farage made exactly that point, he said something along the lines of a 45/55% margin not being definitive enough
Kal, IIRC, the turnout for the 17-24 year old was 75%. The overall turnout was 72%. Far better figures than any recent GE.
Is that a serious comment? Republics can be democracies you know.
Measure once cut twice come to mind
Measure twice cut once also comes to mind.
Bigger measures, cut faster.
Circumcision doesn’t even work that way?
Im surprised democracy prevailed, let this Glorious Revolution begin!
The pound posted a third week of declines spurred by the Brexit vote, winning itself the title of 2016’s worst performer among major currencies. Sterling’s rally on Friday barely dented its 2.7 percent slide versus the dollar in the preceding four days. The U.K. currency this week overtook the Argentine peso as the biggest loser versus the dollar among 31 major peers in 2016 as investors continued to digest the fallout from the June 23 referendum decision to leave the European Union. -Bloomberg-
Tina, It will help exports.
It certainly would, bingo. Unfortunately the UK is a predominantly service-based economy which relies very heavily on imports. We’ve been relying on food imports alone since before the First World War.
The mohamedds are comimg and they arent stopping fpr shite
I Just heard a comment on the campaigners for the Brexit referendum. The British who wanted the referendum seem to be like a Dog who kept chasing Cars, but never knows what to when it catches one ?!
They could at least wait till they’re given a sweater deal before calling for a 2nd vote.
I don’t think free jumpers would swing the vote either way.
Dear UK. Please leave right now. No stalling Best regards The other 27
Probably lots of children signed it
Just to complete the article…. Yes, the government dismissed the result but it is not up to them. “This petition has over 100,000 signatures. The Petitions Committee will consider it for a debate. They can also gather further evidence and press the government for action. The Committee is made up of 11 MPs, from political parties in government and in opposition. It is entirely independent of the Government.”
Don’t they have any constitutional provisions that would at least require a parliamentary debate to take place given that a cohort almost equal to the population of Ireland signed a petition?
Vast majority of those signing the petition were NOT UK nationals…as stated many times above. The number who actually voted in favour of Leaving was in excess of 17 million. What has the population of Ireland got to do with anything?
A second UK referendum probably will happen.
Those Germans are tough guys.
After a head on clash between Britain and Germany guess what will happen?
A second UK referendum.
.
(The Germans REALLY do rule Europe.)
Pat the eu is being tough on the uk so they have said that the uk has to leave, they want other countries to think that if they “vote wrong” there are no second chances, plus the UK was the only country that could block things like the army and police force they have tried to get passed multiple times.
have your say