Revoke Article 50 petition becomes most popular ever after hitting four million
It has had the highest rate of sign-ups on record, according to Parliament’s official Petitions Committee.
An online petition urging the Government to cancel Brexit has become the most popular to be submitted to the Parliament website with over 4,150,000 signatures.
The Revoke Article 50 petition on Saturday leapt ahead of a 2016 petition calling for a second EU referendum, as thousands of demonstrators are due to march on Westminster calling for a People’s Vote.
It has had the highest rate of sign-ups on record, according to Parliament’s official Petitions Committee, adding over two million signatures in 24 hours.
The petition took the top spot from another proposal which called for a second EU referendum should the winning vote and turnout not reach a certain threshold.
By contrast, a pro-Brexit petition on the Parliament website which urges the Government to leave the EU without a deal has received 455,000 signatures.
The Prime Minister ruled out halting the Brexit process when in Brussels on Thursday, telling reporters: “I do not believe that we should be revoking Article 50.”
Data provided by the committee on the location of signatories was paused on Friday to aid website operations after the official website crashed numerous times.
In a tweet, the House of Commons committee said approximately 96% of signatories were from the UK.
The website requires signatories to tick a box confirming they are a British citizen or UK resident and provide a name, email address, country and postcode.
The petition, started in late February, leapt in popularity following the Prime Minister’s appeal to the public on Wednesday where she told frustrated voters: “I am on your side.”
It quickly passed the 100,000-signature threshold needed for it to be debated in Parliament, with the official committee revealing nearly 2,000 signatures were being completed every minute over Thursday lunchtime.
Many celebrities and MPs have tweeted their support for Parliament to revoke the Treaty of Lisbon clause that deals with leaving the EU.
Hundreds of thousands of people were pouring into the capital on Saturday to take part in the Put It To The People march.
The London march coincides with pro-Brexit campaigners continuing their long hike from the North East to the capital.
Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage re-joined the March to Leave when it set off from Linby, near Nottingham, on Saturday morning.
