Burnley voters sign petition to revoke Brexit Article 50

A petition has been prepared to revoke Article 50

As of 10-30am today (Friday) 593 people in the Burnley parliamentary constituency had signed the petition – 0.7% of the population.

But Prime Minister Theresa May has ruled out cancelling the Brexit countdown despite the petition nationally soaring past 2.5 million signatures.

In the 2016 referendum, 66.6% of the Burnley people who took part voted to leave the EU. The number of leave votes in Burnley was 28,854.

The petition, which had attracted more than 2.8 million names by 10-30am on Friday, 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.”

The Prime Minister said she did not believe in halting the deadline after the EU offered a delay plan, adding: "I do not believe that we should be revoking Article 50."

With the highest sign-up rate on record, more 2,000,000 people had pledged their support by the time she fielded questions from reporters in Brussels on Thursday.

Asked by the Press Association whether she thought the public's view had shifted towards revoking Article 50, Mrs May said: "If you look back to what happened in the referendum, we saw the biggest democratic exercise in our history.

"And there was a clear result that we should leave the European Union. We said here's the vote, what is your decision, and we will deliver on it. And I believe it's our duty as a Government and as a Parliament to deliver on that vote."

The Petitions Committee said nearly 2,000 signatures were being completed every minute over Thursday lunchtime, crashing the website because of the unprecedented number of visitors.

On Thursday, EU leaders said Brexit could be delayed from March 29th to May 22nd - but only on the condition that MPs vote for Mrs May's deal next week.

If it is rejected in the third "meaningful vote" then the UK would have until April 12 to tell the European Council a way forward.

An extension could continue for several more months if Britain agreed to vote in May's European Parliament elections.