That petition...

Emp_Fab

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/131215

Holy shit....  I've never seen anything like it.  Go to the page, wait ten seconds and hit refresh.

I've just timed it - it's currently running at about 2,500 signatures per minute !!  If it carries on like that, it will exceed the actual remain vote by the end of the week. (not that that is likely, but that's how fast it's growing.)

Ro_S

the wording of the petition's title and text doesn't even make sense.

Chalky

Wow! 1.3 million signatures!

If they can beat the number who voted on Thursday they might have a point.... )

HAL9000

I didn't like the result. However, that is what the people voted for and we now need to get on with it. If the government were to hold another referendum as a result of this petition they would then, rightly, be accused of ignoring the will of the people and of trying to fix the outcome.

Emp_Fab

I agree.  If nothing else, it's a lesson in the old adage 'be careful what you wish for'.

Hertz32

Yes it does make sense.
If turnout

Ro_S;1125220" said:

the wording of the petition's title and text doesn't even make sense.

Ro_S;1125220" said:

the wording of the petition's title and text doesn't even make sense.

If turnout <75% then there must be a clear majority vote of >60% for the result to stand.
Otherwise, a 2nd referendum.

Ro_S

Look at the distribution map for that petition.  The people signing the petition are heavily concentrated in the same areas that had the high 'remain' votes.   Sour grapes.    Maybe their areas should've had a better turnout, than below the national average!   I bet many didn't even cast their vote and are now thinking 'oh shit'.

ICBM

I don't support it, since it's not the criteria I think is correct for a referendum decision - it's an arbitrary figure, or actually two arbitrary figures.

A simple majority of the entire electorate is, in my opinion. (ie 50% plus one vote.) 60% of 75% is still only 45%.

(Edit: changed from not really supporting it to definitely not supporting it.)

Axe_meister

I wonder if the vote should have been weighted by demographic, especially in an aging society with a result than mainly effects the young.

kin

Is this petition open to anyone regardless of whether they had a right to vote in the referendum?

Fretwired

We need to get on with with life after the decision ... it'll all come good in the end.

dindude

Ro_S said:

the wording of the petition's title and text doesn't even make sense.

Yes it's hard to take it seriously when it's been instigated by someone who can't write a sentence!

Chalky

Plain silly. Arbitrary figures. Unrepresentative of the history of elections in this country. And its an old idea.

Basically undemocratic because you are constraining the process arbitrarily to defeat change (the Leave campaign) and protect the status quo (the Remain campaign).

To test it try this. Boris takes over as Prime Minister. Comes up for election. But for another party to win they must get at least 60% of the vote on at least 75% turn out.

Now, would the Remainers see that as democratic? Of course not.

lloyd

I wanted to stay but come on, whinging about it now is daft.

The people have spoken, so we abide by the decision and start sorting shit out.

Long term I really don't see much changing overall, we'll do better in some areas and be worse off in others, it'll just be a different name above the door.

U.K. Politicians will go Brusells and negotiate just like before and some negotiations we'll win and some we won't-just like before.

We don't live in isolation now and didn't before, I just don't think the short term fallout-which all sides have predicted is worth it to have the abstract notion that we're free to govern ourselves.

Fretwired

Some whingers having a melt down ... they just can't get over their own self-importance and sense of entitlement .. "let's start a petion and get the result changed .. let's no platform Boris"

hotpot

All the military personnel & civilians who lost their lives fighting for democracy in two world wars must be turning in their graves.

Chalky

hotpot;1125314" said:

All the military personnel & civilians who lost their lives fighting for democracy in two world wars must be turning in their graves.

Spinning.

TheBlueWolf

I'm not happy about the result as I voted Remain but the people voted and we're leaving. That's how a democracy works and I accept it.

Having vote after vote until there's a result everyone can agree on ain't gonna happen.

Emp_Fab

From the BBC News page:

"The petition site temporarily went down following "exceptionally high volumes of simultaneous users on a single petition, significantly higher than on any previous occasion", a House of Commons spokeswoman said.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage, who has campaigned for the UK to leave the EU throughout his political career, said in May that a narrow win for Remain could cause unstoppable demand for a rerun of the referendum.

He said at the time that a result that saw Remain win by 52% to 48% would mean "unfinished business by a long way"."

ICBM

Chalky said:

Plain silly. Arbitrary figures. Unrepresentative of the history of elections in this country. And its an old idea.

Basically undemocratic because you are constraining the process arbitrarily to defeat change (the Leave campaign) and protect the status quo (the Remain campaign).

To test it try this. Boris takes over as Prime Minister. Comes up for election. But for another party to win they must get at least 60% of the vote on at least 75% turn out.

Now, would the Remainers see that as democratic? Of course not.

That's exactly why I think the single transferrable vote system is the best option for parliamentary elections - it keeps the constituency system but the winning threshold for each candidate is 50%, if they don't get there in the first round then the second choices are transferred, etc.

I don't agree that weighting a system against change is a bad idea. Allowing highly-motivated minorities to achieve radical change when there is majority indifference to it is exactly how problems like the politicisation of trade unions happened.

Chalky

Well this referendum has certainly got people going @ICBM so maybe your transferrable vote stands its best chance in the next two years of Brexit. Change is the new stability!