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Web Petition For 2nd EU Referendum Draws Huge Interest (ap.org)

From an Associated Press report:An online petition seeking a second referendum on a British exit from the Europe Union has drawn more than 1.6 million names, a measure of the extraordinary divisiveness of Thursday's vote to leave the 28-nation bloc. The online petition site hosted by the House of Commons website even crashed Friday under the weight of the activity as officials said they'd seen unprecedented interest in the measure, which calls on the government to implement a rule that stating if that if "remain" or "leave" camps won less than 60 percent of the vote with less than a 75 percent turnout "there should be another referendum."According to reports, this is the biggest surge of support Parliament's website has ever seen. Looking at the keywords people were hitting up on Google after the news first broke, it was clear that a considerable portion of the population was clueless about the whole situation.

10 of 634 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Web. Petition. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    A recent web petition revealed that a large majority of US citizens want Muslim immigration stopped.

    And if the cause was helped by the clueless, so much the better. Anyone ignorant enough of the issue to vote for Brexit when, had they been paying attention, might have voted otherwise, are exactly the sort of unthinking fools that should not be permitted to subject the UK to foreign rule.

    It's over millennials. Your parents know better than you and we're hoping you'll grow up and figure that out at some point.

  2. Re:Super majority by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Require? Not sure. But it got one: 67% yes in 1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum, 1975

  3. Re:Web. Petition. by ClickOnThis · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's over millennials. Your parents know better than you and we're hoping you'll grow up and figure that out at some point.

    I'm not sure where you're going with that. The demographics of the vote show clearly that millennials and under-50 voters were solidly in the "remain" camp.

    --
    If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
  4. Re:Standard Operating Practice by Archtech · · Score: 3, Informative

    I guess, many of the signers were disappointed voters who believed the bullshit about giving the EU money to the NHS. Unfortunately for them Farage changed his mind after the vote.

    It is true that the UK currently pays the EU a net £13.5 billion (about $20 billion, at least until yesterday)) a year in contributions. That's after deducting the payments that come back from Brussels - although it should be noted that the EU bureaucrats choose who gets "their" largesse. So the equation is roughly like this: the British government takes a lot of British taxpayers' money and gives it to Brussels. Brussels then gives chosen "good causes" in the UK about a third of that money, and keeps the rest.

    What Nigel Farage (and many others) think is that it would be nice if the UK government kept that money and spent it on whatever useful priorities it thinks best. The NHS is certainly one of our biggest and most resource-hungry public utilities, and I don't see why it shouldn't get some of the £13.5 billion the UK could save by not being in the EU.

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    I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
  5. Re:Standard Operating Practice by PPH · · Score: 3, Informative

    Reporter on public radio was saying that Google UK search terms on 'what is Brexit' and 'consequences of Brexit' jumped AFTER the vote. I think a lot of people listened to the activists and voted based on emotion. Now they are thinking "What the f*** did we just get ourselves into?" Some accounts of the British vote had a primary reason for Brexit as fear of the refugee crisis in the EU. But Britain is not part of the Schengen Area and has maintained independent control of immigration and visas.

    Pretty much the same thing hapens in our town. Politicians don't like something, so they scare the shit out of the public and it gets voted down. OTOH, if it's something the pols want to do, they sell it and even if it's riskier and more expensive, the public votes it up.

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    Have gnu, will travel.
  6. Re:Standard Operating Practice by Archtech · · Score: 4, Informative

    The result was very narrow. The turn-out was relatively low for such an important decision.

    That turns out not to be the case. The turnout was 72.21%, and the number of votes cast for "Leave" was 17,410,742 - the highest number of votes ever cast for one candidate or option in any British election. While the margin of victory was a relatively narrow 3.8%, that represents over 1.25 million votes.

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    I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
  7. Re:Standard Operating Practice by Zocalo · · Score: 4, Informative

    The £13.7 billion figure comes from the disproven £350m/day figure (£350m * 365 = £12.8b) that Nigel Farage has described as "a mistake" because it's from *before* the rebate and subsidies; once you take into account the rebate and subsidies it's actually about half that. You are right about the EU choosing who gets the difference, although again that's not the whole picture as most of the money is allocated to projects that would have needed to come out of the public purse anyway - in practice, it's a money-go-round that attempts to make people feel good about the EU because of all the "EU funded" signs when their taxes would have paid for it anyway. Assuming no changes to the level of taxation, there's undeniably going to be more money per annum in the UK public purse once we leave the EU, but after things like additional import/export duties and other potential costs of leaving the EU are factored in, it's anyone's guess as to how much is going to be available to be spent on things like the NHS - and it's going to stay that way at least until all the post Article 50 treaties are hammered out.

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    UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
  8. Re:LOL by scsirob · · Score: 5, Informative

    European here. Contrary to your belief (as probably induced by the somewhat biased media reports), many European civilians are not mourning at all. Many of us are happy to finally see EU dictatorship come to a halt. The Brits will do fine outside the EU. And so will many other countries.

    EU is a failed project, perhaps good for the elite and large companies, but it sucks for ordinary citizens. Unlimited import of society-wrecking hordes, unreal money pits, total neglect for ordinary citizens, destruction of carefully crafted wellfare systems, pensions down the drain, job losses, and mind-boggling burocracy. That's EU for us. This project should return to being an economic powerhouse, without the common currency and without tens of thousands of useless, overpaid burocrats.

    The Brits have taken the lead. Will it hurt? Sure! But better to cut the ties now then to stay aboard a ship heading for the cliffs. I expect other countries to follow. The Clash had this in their lyrics: "If I go there will be trouble.. If I stay it will be double!!"

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    To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
  9. Re:Standard Operating Practice by blind+biker · · Score: 1, Informative

    Due to the stock exchange crash after the vote UK has lost more money than it has paid into the EU budget for the past 20 years.

    That's total BS: the volatility in both stock markets and currency exchange were minor even compared to changes withing a few months.
    Pretty sad that FUD like your post gets modded up.

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
  10. Re:Cute by MightyDrunken · · Score: 4, Informative

    How cute, the democratic result didn't go our way so we'll make a new referendum with skewed option balance. This surely will make our way the only way!

    Well not really, the petition states:

    We the undersigned call upon HM Government to implement a rule that if the remain or leave vote is less than 60% based a turnout less than 75% there should be another referendum.

    The petition does not state how the new referendum should be phrased. What is most interesting is that this petition was started a month ago by an ex political student who supports Leave. This is not the only Leave supporter to suggest a second referendum if the vote was close. Of course now they have got the result they wanted, suddenly no more are needed. ;)

    The leave side suggested many things like taking back control of our borders, sovereignty and saving money but there is no plan and no definition of what leaving the EU means. When people realise that immigration will be about the same, that things cost more and the short term financial volatility harming the UK. They may feel that the Leave campaign "promises" were a bunch of wishful thinking