The fucking patronising response from the govt to the 6million petition

[Meretricious]

^This Government will not revoke Article 50. We will honour the result of the 2016 referendum and work with Parliament to deliver a deal that ensures we leave the European Union.

It remains the Government’s firm policy not to revoke Article 50. We will honour the outcome of the 2016 referendum and work to deliver an exit which benefits everyone, whether they voted to Leave or to Remain.

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 three quarters of the electorate took part in the 2016 referendum, trusting that the result would be respected. This Government wrote to every household prior to the referendum, promising that the outcome of the referendum would be implemented. 17.4 million people then voted to leave the European Union, providing the biggest democratic mandate for any course of action ever directed at UK Government.

British people cast their votes once again in the 2017 General Election where over 80% of those who voted, voted for parties, including the Opposition, who committed in their manifestos to upholding the result of the referendum.

This Government stands by this commitment.

Revoking Article 50 would break the promises made by Government to the British people, disrespect the clear instruction from a democratic vote, and in turn, reduce confidence in our democracy. As the Prime Minister has said, failing to deliver Brexit would cause “potentially irreparable damage to public trust”, and it is imperative that people can trust their Government to respect their votes and deliver the best outcome for them.

Department for Exiting the European Union.^

Oh where do I start.

The "dear leave activists" bit appears to be inciting people to break the law by randomly collecting people's data.

oh ffs, it's the same old shit again and again!

^^ my sentence was in response to their response, not the pic I posted

Problem is, with the above restaurant scenario, the Leavers are still insisting everybody goes to the shit serving restaurant, that they knew in advance the restaurant served shit and are forcing the reluctant diners to eat the shit as well.

Given that the petition was open to everyone (even those too young to vote, up to and including babies), isn't 6M a bit of a low turnout?

gronky I suppose it depends whether or not you feel a sad need to rubbish it. Alternatively you could see it as equivalent to one and a half the entire population of New Zealand, double the entire population of wales, million more than the entire population of Scotland etc. It’s just numbers. Depends on your perspective.

Figmentofmyimagination, the number I would use to put it in perspective is 9% of the UK population or around 10% of the population with internet access (assuming a lack of fraud).

Sure - that’s pretty high isn’t it. What does it say to you about the level of discontent in this country. What a shower.

What does it say to you about the level of discontent in this country.

It says that it's not terribly high to me, considering that's significantly less than half of the people who voted Remain in the first place, even if the wider scope of the petition is completely ignored.

Then what do you make of the numbers for the No Deal petition? Less than 10% of the one you seem to find so contemptible.

Then what do you make of the numbers for the No Deal petition?

I believe that, at the time, the government was right to not follow the wishes of the signatories, it was started in October 2018 at a time when the negotiations were still very much ongoing. While I personally believe No Deal shouldn't be discounted as an option, I don't believe it is one that should have been locked in at that time, nor at the time when it was debated in Parliament.

It is quite sobering though that nearly 600 thousand people (and rising) think we should crash out of the eu without a deal. That’s still quite a sizeable number of people - a couple of large cities - where are they all I wonder. It is such a destructive position to take, even if you have no mortgage and are retired with pension etc.

Figmentofmyimagination, if we're going to talk about sobering thoughts (and numbers), I would say that cancelling Article 50 out of hand is far more risky for Britain. UKIP, though well on the way to becoming the next BNP in terms of political leanings and associations, has seen its support in terms of membership utterly collapse. At the time of the referendum, there were 32 electoral constituencies with support for Leave above 60% and a majority for the incumbent MP of 10% or less. Raise that threshold and the number of seats rises reasonably proportionally.

We already know from the disparity between per-Refferendum polls and the actual result that Leave voters form a rather quieter majority. Imagine even a portion of them uniting to put UKIP, as it currently is, into a position of power. 'Sobering' doesn't even begin to encapsulate it.

That should NEVER be a reason to avoid doing what's right. If there is no good brexit, no amount of fanatical brexit party members should deter our representatives from doing the right thing. I think revoke could very well be it.
Either leavers are on the whole moderate reasonable people- in which case they will see it too. Or they're dangerous ideologues, in which case they should absolutely not be appeased as things will only slide further down towards worsening extremes.

Either leavers are on the whole moderate reasonable people- in which case they will see it too. Or they're dangerous ideologues, in which case they should absolutely not be appeased as things will only slide further down towards worsening extremes.

I would recommend looking at how few votes are needed to drastically alter the electoral landscape to understand why the former can be true yet there can still be a significant risk. Party politics is all about compromises, which happen much more often than might be palatable.

Just to add, if you are a Remain supporter, please do consider that what you consider a 'good Brexit' might be severely at odd with a large swathe of the voting public.

A good brexit in my book would be one that isn't going to make us poorer. All projections look bad and don't say 'project fear' as it's only just beginning.

As for immigration- it will not change. Only the population of immigrants will change. That's it.

By that I mean their origin.

I agree that Brexit will make us poorer in the short term but I also believe that there is such an unholy mess being brewed up by the Troika that we'll be enormously better off in the long term. I believe there's a fundamental misunderstanding in terms of what Leavers are willing to accept in economic terms both in the immediate and distant future.

Regarding immigration, I would really like the disproportionate number of EU migrants to be replaced with a fairer, more diverse cross section of the global population. There is a short term limit on a sustainable migration rate to Britain, mostly imposed by housing and infrastructure and it seems unfair that immigrants from certain countries should enjoy as automatic priority over those from others, especially considering the comparatively high level of economic development in even the poorest parts of Europe.

All projections look bad and don't say 'project fear' as it's only just beginning

This is an interesting contradiction that I have trouble fully comprehending the underlying logic of; simultaneously claiming a vague sense of impending doom while also acknowledging the difficulty of long term financial forecasts.

Regarding immigration, I would really like the disproportionate number of EU migrants to be replaced with a fairer, more diverse cross section of the global population*

Non EU net migration in 2018: over 200k
EU net migration 2018: 80k or thereabouts

Freedom of Movement is reciprocal. It means British people enjoy it too across the EU. It's not a 'priority', it's a reciprocal arrangement.

simultaneously claiming a vague sense of impending doom while also acknowledging the difficulty of long term financial forecasts.

A forecast is by definition a projection for the future. Some people argue those negative forecasts are wrong because they've not yet fully come to pass. That's a contradiction! I'm pointing out that we are starting now to feel the negative effects of brexit and that long term projections all look bad, ie things will get considerably worse if we persist on that course. You and I may believe in the country's positives but a fat lot of good will it do us if foreign investors continue to desert our shores because they don't want to take the risks that come with brexit. For goodness sake we can't even tell them what brexit will look like! It's asking them to take a huge gamble! Most won't so they're off.

It’s the idea that there is a ‘will of the people’ which is such bollocks. Opinion polls now show a majority to stay in the EU. A shift was always inevitable over time as 18-20 year olds have gained the right to vote and some of the older generations have died. Another minority have changed their mind as they’ve seen the political chaos / job losses / realised they were lied to about many things.
How hard would it be for May to admit that the country is deeply divided? Instead she talks like we are some kind of Borg who all want to leave. It’s not just the fact that she’s trying to get the country to leave, but also that the tone of her speech and response to the petition is that those who want to Remain, who are frightened about the impact of Brexit on their families, are completely invisible to her and should assimilate or fuck off, she’s not interested in their views or their votes