3M sign UK parliament petition to cancel Brexit

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) – In the two days since it was posted on parliament's official petition website, more than 3 million people have signed a petition asking the British government to cancel Brexit.

The number climbed dramatically in the less than 36 hours it was opened for signing, leading the Petitions Committee to tweet: “The rate of signing is the highest the site has ever had to deal with."

The petition received more than a quarter of a million signatures shortly after it was put online Wednesday, and caused parliament’s petition webpages to crash more than once.

The petition reads: “The government repeatedly claims ‘exiting the EU is the will of 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 European Court of Justice previously ruled that the U.K. can unilaterally revoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty – the section of the treaty Britain invoked to leave – and stop Brexit to remain in the bloc.

Brussels on Thursday agreed to an extension of Article 50 until May 22 if the withdrawal agreement is approved by the House of Commons. If the deal fails to receive enough support and is rejected a third time, the extension will only run up to April 12.

Any petition signed by 100,000 people is debated at the British parliament.