by Kimberley Rino-Lightfoot
On June 23, 2016, a majority of British voters chose to leave the EU in a referendum, arguably in response to a series of unsettling economic events that rocked the EU from 2007 to 2016. Britain’s exit would be the first example of a member state leaving the bloc by means of Article 50.
Following many delays in the Brexit deal, much public attention has recently been focused towards an online petition calling to revoke Article 50, with almost six million signatures asking the government to reconsider the 2016 referendum and remain in the European Union
Petitions by themselves do not achieve change, nevertheless, they can have a powerful impact if they have over 100,000 signatures. When that threshold has been reached, the petitions committee must consider the petition for debate in Parliament.
According to the BBC, Theresa May has stated that the U.K had already decided to leave the European Union ‘in the biggest ever democratic exercise”.
“As everyone keeps saying, Brexit is really a mess. However, as we come out the other side of the MP’s second vote and rejection of May’s deal – there is another view that this is in fact the perfect enactment of parliamentary process and democratic debate,” said 21-year-old tech student, Henry Gambles.
“A ‘Big Idea’ was put out to the people, with leave winning by a slim majority. Then, further debate and protest ensued; the government proceeded with the decided will of the people – though elected MP’s then fought for and spoke the wishes of their constituents – before eventually refusing to accept May’s proposal.”
He added: “It’s long. It’s drawn out, it’s messy – but like it or not, it’s proper democracy.”
According to the Evening Standard, Foreign Office minister Mark Field warned that the European Union was running out of patience with Parliament over its ‘repeated voting down of Theresa May’s proposal. He added that he “would prefer to revoke Article 50 rather than back a second referendum”.
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