British lawmakers will debate a public petition on whether to hold a second referendum on the country’s membership in the European Union.
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Parliament is obliged to debate any petition that receives over 100,000 signatures.
As it turned out, the Leave campaign won the referendum by a margin of 51.9% to 48.1% while turnout was a higher than anticipated 72%.
Oliver Healey, the man who started the petition, now believes it has been “hijacked” by Remain supporters.
The House of Commons petitions committee subsequently launched an investigation amid claims some of the names on the online document were fraudulent.
Parliament will debate the petition on Monday, the first day MPs return from their summer recess. Under rules agreed to by Parliament, the referendum result can not be changed retroactively.
Mr Davis, who was a prominent Leave campaigner ahead of July’s referendum, was appointed to head the new Department for Britain Leaving the European Union by Theresa May when she became Prime Minister. “The government have been clear that this was a once in a generation vote and the decision must be respected”.
Urged by ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith to confirm that taking control of the UK’s borders was “not negotiable for any other deal”, he said Prime Minister Theresa May had “made it very plain that the current status of immigration can not go on and we will bring it to an end as part of this process”.
Mrs May has confirmed she will not formally trigger withdrawal negotiations – by invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty – before the end of the year.
May used the G20 summit this weekend to reaffirm her commitment to making a success of Brexit, while critics accused her of backsliding on some of the Leave campaign’s key promises.
The PM has also refused to commit to a host of other key Leave promises including an extra £100 million (US$133 million) per week for the National Health Service (NHS) or a cut in Value-Added Tax on energy bills. “There will be new freedoms, new opportunities, new horizons for this great country”.
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Ground founder Hugo Dixon, who was editor of the pro-Remain InFacts websie, said: “We will need a bold vision for how Britain can be fairer as well as a positive vision for Europe in order to have a chance of persuading leave voters to change their minds”.
