A second EU referendum? Parliament to consider debate as 130,000 sign petition

A petition calling for a second EU referendum has now been signed by more than 130,000 people.

The online campaign is urging the Government to change the rules this time around so only a win of 60 per cent would be binding.

William Healey, who created the campaign, wrote: “We the undersigned call upon HM Government to implement a rule that if the remain or leave vote is less than 60% based a turnout less than 75% there should be another referendum.”

By 3pm the number of signatures had soared past 130,000, well over the 100,000 mark needed for it to be considered for debate in Parliament.

The signatures mostly came from disgruntled Remain voters but potentially included a number of people who backed Leave and have now changed their minds.

Many people have been urging their followers on Twitter to sign up in the hope of a re-run.

Jim Sterling tweeted: “Here's a petition for those Leave voters who woke up sober.”

Josh Jeffries wrote: “Over 15 million of us wanted to stay in the EU. A 2% winning margin is too small to decide something this big. Sign.”

David Coughlin admitted: “Probably clutching at straws, but haven't I just been given my democracy back? Let's see.”

Demand to sign the petition has been so high that it repeatedly crashed the parliamentary website today.

A House of Commons spokesman said: "UK parliament and the government digital service are aware of the issue and are working on this to ensure the site is working well."

Alongside asking for a fresh poll, today's shock Brexit vote has encouraged Londoners to campaign for the capital to declare independence.

London, Scotland and Northern Ireland were the only areas where the majority of voters backed Remain.