Government rejects 5.8m petition calling for Article 50 to be revoked

The government has rejected a petition calling for Brexit to be stopped, which has gathered more than 5.8 million signatures.

The petition is due to be debated by MPS on 1 April, after smashing the 100,000 threshold for consideration and becoming the best-supported proposal in the history of the House of Commons and government’s e-petitions website. Rejecting the government’s claim that EU withdrawal is the “will of the people”, it calls for the revocation of the Article 50 letter informing the European Council of the UK’S intention to leave.

The Article 50 letter can be withdrawn by the UK unilaterally, without the need for EU agreement, leaving Britain free to continue as a member on its current terms.

But in its official response to the petition, the Department for Exiting the EU said: “Revoking Article 50, and thereby remaining in the European Union, would undermine both our democracy and the trust that millions of voters have placed in government.

“The government acknowledges the considerable number of people who have signed this petition.

“However, close to threequarters of the electorate took part in the 2016 referendum, trusting that the result would be respected.”