London: A petition asking Britain to remain in the European Union has caused a government website that hosts petitions to crash.
About 600,000 people backed a call to revoke Article 50, the mechanism that triggered Britain’s departure from the European Union, before the site crashed. That surpasses the 1,00,000 threshold needed for the petition to be debated in Parliament.
Actors Hugh Grant and Jennifer Saunders, author Caitlin Moran and ex-Labour press chief Alastair Campbell urged their social media followers to sign the petition.
Five hastags related to remaining in the European Union were trending on Twitter on Thursday. They included “Revoke Article 50,” and #NotOnMySide, a reference to May’s speech on Wednesday in which she told the public that she was “on your side” in her efforts to carry out the result of the 2016 referendum.
British Prime Minister Theresa May is facing a backlash from lawmakers who have taken umbrage with her decision to blame lawmakers for the country’s inability to forge a consensus on a divorce deal with the European Union.
May told a frustrated public in a televised address to the nation on Wednesday that she was “on your side” in efforts to carry out the results of the 2016 referendum to leave the EU.
But many lawmakers — whom she needs to win over to get her deal passed — were infuriated on Thursday.
Anna Soubry, of the breakaway Independent Group, described it as the “most dishonest and divisive statement from any Prime Minister.” Labour’s David Lammy called the speech “sinister, while Conservative Sam Gyimah tweeted it was a “low blow.”
