
Stop Brexit: 700k sign UK petition to stay in EU - kimsk112
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-petition/stop-brexit-700000-sign-uk-petition-to-stay-in-eu-idUSKCN1R2124
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glhaynes
The petition is here. Looks like it just crossed 1,000,000.
[https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/241584](https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/241584)

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mdevere
Only 16m more to go

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dazc
Can we then have a 2nd petition, just in case anyone has changed their mind?

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jwat0v
I support a 3rd petition too. In fact why don't we just repeat all elections
and referendums until we get what we want?

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pushpop
That is literally how democracy is supposed to work. You have regular(ish)
elections to appoint your "representatives" in parliament (representatives in
scare quotes because they seldom represent the people).

Even the 2016 EU referendum wasn't the first we've had. As the voting populous
grows old, new voters come of age, and the relationship with our EU partners
change, it makes total sense to revisit past decisions.

Nothing in democracy should be closed to re-evaluation for all time in the
future just because some people made a vote once.

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topbanana
However, 17,410,742 voted to leave

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_United_Kingdom_European_U...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_United_Kingdom_European_Union_membership_referendum)

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tomgp
Those 17 million voted for many different versions of leaving, different sets
of changes to our relationship with Europe (many of those were impossible or
illusory -- based on lies). All those who voted to remain voted for
essentially the same thing, to maintain our current relationship with Europe.

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setum
Isn't this how most of democratic elections work with many different faces of
leader and their different set of plans targeted to different groups of
people. Does the burden to separate lie and misinformation from truth along
with the responsibility to choose the best not lie with electorate?

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jon-wood
The difference between an election and a referendum of this type is that in
four years there'll be another one, so even if everyone realises they were
wrong an opportunity will be along in not too long to reverse that decision.

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andrewla
I'm not British, so I have no real horse in this race. I'm generally in favor
of Brexit, and think that long-term it will benefit the UK far more than it
will hurt them short-term.

That said, I don't think it's "undemocratic" to hold a second referendum.
Parliament is clearly not on board with the whole idea, and the EU isn't
really inclined to make a graceful transition. So let the voters make another
statement, given what we now know.

If Brexit carries the day again, then Parliament will hopefully become a
little more flexible, and the EU, for fear of alienating an important trading
partner, will likely stop with the game of chicken as well.

And if Brexit loses then everyone can kiss and make up, with the new knowledge
that actually pulling off an exit from the EU is harder technically and the
full implications are more daunting than the voters anticipated.

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moystard
EU parliament defends the interests of EU countries, including the Republic of
Ireland. Europe is protecting its interests; politicians in the UK assumed
that the EU would bend to their will, they were wrong. With Theresa May's hard
Brexit and red lines, it was impossible for the EU to do more; I actually
think they did some compromises in the current May's deal. The problem is that
May's deal is not what was sold to voters, far from it, that's why no one is
happy about the current situation.

Europe just said: You cannot have your cake and eat it.

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andrewla
> Europe just said: You cannot have your cake and eat it.

Yeah, sure. But they _could_ have just said: You can have your cake and eat
it. Why exactly is it "impossible" \-- UK exceptionalism was already the norm.

let the UK have their cake and eat it. How much of their intransigence is a
matter of principle vs. a game of chicken (hoping that the UK will give up on
Brexit) is something that I don't know if we can really know unless push comes
to shove.

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jayess
Where's the competing leave the EU petition?

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pushpop
If there isn't one already then you're free to create one yourself. Nobody is
denying the right for one to exist.

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sbhn
Can someone make a petition for those who want to leave.

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dazc
We had one already.

