The British government has rejected a petition signed by 4.1 million people calling for a second EU referendum.
The petition, which went viral on social media as distraught Remain-supporters sought to overturn the Brexit result, has been the most popular ever published on the government’s website – although there are doubts about the authenticity of many signatures.
However, in a reply issued today, the Foreign Office dashed the hopes of pro-EU activists, stating: “The European Union Referendum Act received Royal Assent in December 2015, receiving overwhelming support from Parliament. The Act did not set a threshold for the result or for minimum turnout.”
“As the Prime Minister made clear in his statement to the House of Commons on 27 June, the referendum was one of the biggest democratic exercises in British history with over 33 million people having their say,” it added.
“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.”
Breitbart London reported two weeks ago over claims a “bot” or “script” was being used to automatically generate signatories for the petition. Around 200,000 signatures were found to have come from outside the UK, with 41,118 from Vatican City (which has a population of under 1,000) and 24,855 from North Korea.
Another 2,735 came from Antarctica, which has no permanent population.
Britons voted by 52 per cent to 48 to leave the European Union on 23 June, with 17.4 million people choosing Brexit compared to 16.1 million for Remain.
The petition called for the government to create a rule that there should be a new referendum if the ‘Leave’ or ‘Remain’ side won with less than 60 per cent of the vote on a lower than 75 per cent turnout.
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