To think that the EU election result...

[Thadeus]

....shows the remainers that we dont need another referendum?

Most idiotic post of the day

Fewer people voted for Nigel Farage The Brexit Party (5.2 million) than signed the petition to Revoke Article 50 (just over 6 million).

You mean bots and people that don’t even live in the UK? A fully regulated election can hardly compare with an online petition set up by Doreen from Woking.

You mean bots and people that don’t even live in the UK? A fully regulated election can hardly compare with an online petition set up by Doreen from Woking.

Sigh.

vip.politicsmeanspolitics.com/2019/03/23/no-the-revoke-art-50-petition-is-not-being-faked-by-russian-bots-or-fraudsters/

OP - it doesn’t show that. It shows that there are quite a few people on the extreme ends - eg remain or no deal. If we have a second referendum (which I think we should have), we need to put all options on the table eg customs union, single market and vote by av, so we know what specific type of leave (if not remain) people would want.

Unfortunately you can only extrapolate with this data. All that can be said for sure is that the 34.9% who voted for the Brexit party did so because they support Brexit (what with the Brexit party having no policies on anything other than Brexit). Votes for the other parties may indicate their stance on Brexit or may not. You could infer that those who voted for Con support a version of May's Brexit deal and those who voted for Lab are in favour of a Customs Union. And of course it completely discounts the 63% or the electorate who may well hold a view on this matter and wish to be heard, but considered this particular ballot a complete waste of time.

The only real way of knowing where the people who didn't vote for the Brexit party stand is by having a second referendum. And hoping it shows a clearer decision than the previous one, which was very marginal. My strong (and unwilling) suspicion is that either it would be another leave win, or it would again be marginal. I personally think they should consider Brexit to be the new "status quo" and require a 60% remain vote to change that status quo. I think it would be the only way to make it inarguable. (Also I think they should just spring it on people, and not carry out any influencing of voters in either direction - just say "we are having a vote and this is when it will be"...)

Thunderwing because no one would ever sign up with multiple email addresses. I’m a remainder but not deluded enough to believe that an online petition could ever be comparable to regulated elections - both the EU referendum and the EU elections.

Nelson

The very first point on the link in my previous post says;

^LIE 1: The petition allows people to sign multiple times.
It is possible to sign the petition multiple times, but the signature will only be counted as a genuine signature and added to the petition count once it is verified by email address.^

Each email address is verified as valid and unique to each signer’s name after the IP address and identity has passed through anti-abuse measures by no less than Google, Microsoft and Apple combined.

Every system is fallible, yes, and a few people might have signed it a couple of times by going to different computers in different locations. But it sounds like one hell of a ball ache for the sake of an online petition.

So unreliable compared to an actual, you know, regulated election?

Turnout was extremely low, much lower than the referendum. If you add up the total of Lib Dem, green and labour voters it’s more than Brexit party. Just makes it look like there’s more leave voters because the majority of them voted for the same party.

Country is still as divided as it was three years ago.

It doesn't really tell you much of anything. DH voted Green. He's a dedicated Brexiteer who voted Leave back in the Dark Ages, but he thinks that the environmental question is far far more imortant than whether UK remains or not.

He is not the only one who voted with no eye on Europe at all; whereas I voted LD as they were most likely to keep BP out. Bargained without the Widdecombe Effect though!