100 signatures reached
To: David Cameron, Prime Minister
Brexit is not legally binding: Call for a 2nd referendum on Europe
Dear Mr Cameron,
I write to you as a Scottish Labour Party voter who voted for 'better together' in the Scottish Referendum, and now live in the South East of England. I am no expert in politics but I do love this country and as it transpires, the 'LEAVE' campaign have been lying to its followers, telling them that the so called £350m we have apparently been sending to Europe will not in fact bee returrned to the NHS and that this particular campaign element was indeed a 'mistake' (https://amp.twimg.com/v/6ca5195b-a8a5-4b20-b209-92440b9a25d6). Unfortunately, the entire Brexit debacle very quickly turned into a media frenzy, whereby some of our largest tabloids drove campaigns of anti-immigrant fear into the hearts of some of our most influential voters when it came to deciding on this vote.
Anyway - without going into the details - what's done is done.
HOWEVER...
Apparently the referendum is not legally binding and therefore I plead with you to take ultimate responsibility as Prime Minster, exercise your power to leverage these insights, and clarify whether or not we can run a 2nd referendum.
"parliament is sovereign and referendums are generally not binding in the UK"
You have today said you will stick by us until October so that gives you approx. 3 months to try and take further action before invoking article 50...It's not too late
Scotland will leave the UK
Northern Ireland may fall back into a situation that sees the peace talks reversed
Wales will most certainly push for a referendum to breakaway now
The pound is at its lowest for over 30 years
$120bn wiped off the stock markets
30% off the value of RBS and Barclays
This is all in the first few hours...
We can still make a difference David!
This is still your ship... don't let us capsise. It's not too late
Yours faithfully,
Sarah O'Donnell
Why is this important?
To quote David Allen Green, legal commentator at FT.com and the former legal correspondent of the New Statesman:
http://jackofkent.com/2016/06/five-legal-points-about-the-leave-victory/
1. The EU referendum result, by itself, has no legal impact. It was an advisory not a mandatory referendum.
2. All UK law – including that drawn from the EU – remains in place today just as it was yesterday. Nothing in yesterday’s result affects the applicability or enforceability of any UK or EU law.
3. The legally significant thing is not the referendum result but any Article 50 notification. There is no indication any UK politician is any rush to press that “red button”. Once pressed, that will give a two year period before the UK leaves the EU (unless EU Member States unanimously agree otherwise). Any fundamental legal change as a result of the Leave vote will not (and cannot) be until 2018 at the earliest.
4. It is perfectly possible the Article 50 red button is never pressed – for example if there is a “new deal” and a second referendum. There is, after all, a tradition of EU-related referendums being repeated in Member States until there is the “correct” answer.
5. On available information, there is no plausible legal challenge to the referendum result.
