WE GOT IT SO WRONG!
■Thousands of British voters now regret Brexit ■Ministers fear Kenny weak for vital EU talks
HUNDREDS of thousands of Leave voters now believe they got the Brexit vote wrong – as the historic ramifications continue to ripple across Ireland and the EU.
An online phenomenon known as Regrexit was gathering momentum last night as the number of people signing a petition calling for a second referendum hit 2.1 million. And a MoS poll last night confirmed that the equivalent of 1.13 million people
or 7 % of respondents – regret choosing to leave the EU.
It comes as Fine Gael ministers admitted they were concerned that Enda Kenny’s already weak position will have a damaging effect on Ireland’s negotiation position with Europe on Brexit.
Meanwhile, the Taoiseach faced internal criticism over his preparations for the vote, choosing to play golf with Joe Biden rather than chair a Cabinet meeting that could have formulated a Plan B earlier.
In the UK, more than two million people have called for a second poll in an attempt to avoid a Brexit – as one senior MP said the House of Commons could reverse the result.
A new petition on the UK Parliament’s website calls for the UK Government to rule that ‘if the Remain or Leave vote is less than 60% based on a turnout of less than 75%, there should be another referendum’. By 7pm last night 2.07 million people had signed it.
That number takes it well over the 100,000-signature threshold needed to force a debate on the issue by MPs. A rush to sign the petition caused the website to crash temporarily due to the high volume of traffic.
Ben Howlett, a Conservative MP, confirmed on Twitter last night than the petition would be discussed by a House of Commons subcommittee on Tuesday.
Ex-Labour Minister David Lammy claimed that the British Parliament itself could vote down the referendum result. He wrote online: ‘Wake up. We can bring this nightmare to an end through a vote in Parliament.’
It comes as many Brexiters reveal their regret at the consequences of their vote.
One voter, Adam from Manchester, told BBC TV on Friday: ‘My vote – I didn’t think was going to matter too much because I thought we were just going to remain.’
Another Leave voter, Mandy, told a London paper that she would change her vote if she could. ‘The reality is actually hitting,’ she said. ‘I wish I had the opportunity to vote again… I would do things differently.’
One Twitter user Michael Tinmouth referenced Ireland’s rerun referendum in 2009. ‘The Irish got a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Given number of #REGREXIT it’s highly unlikely but not impossible,’ he said.
The MoS survey echoes the online claims that many who voted Leave now regret it. A total of 7% said they wished they had not voted to quit the EU, equal to around 1,130,000 people; 4% said they regretted voting Remain, equal to around 696,000 people.
If they could recast their votes, it would not yet change the result – but it would slash the margin from 1.27million to 400,000.