By John Smith • Published: 10 Jul 2016 • 8:30
The Palace of Westminster
WITH more than four million signatures, the petition for the running of a second referendum (which ironically was originally set up by a pro-Leave campaigner as he thought that his view would lose) has now received the largest number of signatures ever for any parliamentary petition and has received two formal responses.
The first from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office states “The EU Referendum Act received Royal Assent in December 2015. The Act was scrutinised and debated in Parliament during its passage and agreed by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
The Act set out the terms under which the referendum would take place, including provisions for setting the date, franchise and the question that would appear on the ballot paper. The Act did not set a threshold for the result or for minimum turnout.
As the Prime Minister made clear in his statement to the House of Commons on 27 June, the referendum was one of the biggest democratic exercises in British history with over 33 million people having their say.
The Prime Minister and Government have been clear that this was a once in a generation vote and, as the Prime Minister has said, the decision must be respected. We must now prepare for the process to exit the EU and the Government is committed to ensuring the best possible outcome for the British people in the negotiations.”
The second from the Parliamentary Petitions committee states “The Committee has decided to defer its decision on this petition until the Government Digital Service has done all it can to verify the signatures on the petition. We have already had to remove 77,000 fraudulent signatures.
The Committee wishes to make clear that, although it may choose to schedule a debate on this petition in due course, it only has the power to schedule debates in Westminster Hall – the second debating chamber of the House of Commons. Debates in Westminster Hall do not have the power to change the law, and could not trigger a second referendum.
The Petitions Committee will look at the petition again at its next meeting, on Tuesday 12 July.”
Regardless of which side of this particular petition you sit, it now appears to confirm that the whole petition concept is one of ‘smoke and mirrors’ which gives the impression that parliament wants to listen to the public but in reality will do as it wishes whilst maintaining an air of interest.
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Married to Ophelia in Gibraltar in 1978, John has spent much of his life travelling on security print and minting business and visited every continent except Antarctica. Having retired several years ago, the couple moved to their house in Estepona and John became a regular news writer for the EWN Media Group taking particular interest in Finance, Gibraltar and Costa del Sol Social Scene. Currently he is acting as Editorial Consultant for the paper helping to shape its future development. Share your story with us by emailing newsdesk@euroweeklynews.com, by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews
“it now appears to confirm that the whole petition concept is one of âÂÂsmoke and mirrorsâ which gives the impression that parliament wants to listen to the public but in reality will do as it wishes whilst maintaining an air of interest.” – The people have spoken, and the government has no right to grant a second referendum, despite what the losers may think!The decision must stand!
Roy as someone who I believe wasn’t eligible to vote in the referendium, you are more than happy to make your opinion heard but in this cae, why did you miss out the short comment ‘Regardless of which side of this particular petition you sit’ as you infer that we as a paper and I a voting individual are biased because of Brexit when in fact my piece was based on the concept that all petions are a waste of time?
John, this was NOT meant as an insult to anyone, least of all you and the EWN. (which I enjoy reading) and was in NO way biased as you say. It was purely a statement of fact, that once the vote has been held everyone should stick by the results, including the government.
This was the biggest voter turnout in 24 years,quite a bit higher than that for the last general election however,28% of voters could not be bothered to get off their a***s and vote,next time,don’t winge,get out and vote or stop winging.I have waited 41 years for this moment and believe that we can do much better outside the EU than in it within a few years and the pound will gain ground against the Euro within a few weeks under a strong Prime Minister and once the money speculators and spivs take their ill-gotten gains,the markets will recover.
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