UK: 6 million sign Brexit cancellation petition

LONDON

More than 6 million people have signed a petition asking the British government to cancel Brexit.

The number of signatures climbed dramatically in the less than 36 hours it was opened for signing last week, leading the Petitions Committee to tweet: "The rate of signing is the highest the site has ever had to deal with."

The petition received more than a quarter of a million signatures shortly after it was put online last Wednesday, and caused parliament’s petition webpages to crash more than once.

The government has already responded to the petition, saying they have no plans to revoke article 50 -- a process triggered by any leaving EU member state.

The petition reads: "The government repeatedly claims 'exiting the EU is the will of people.' We need to put a stop to this claim by proving the strength of public support now for remaining in the EU. A people’s vote may not happen -- so vote now."

The European Court of Justice previously ruled that the U.K. can unilaterally revoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty -- the section of the treaty Britain invoked to leave -- and stop Brexit to remain in the bloc.

Brussels has agreed to an extension of Article 50 until April 12 as the withdrawal agreement has been rejected by the House of Commons for the third time. The parliament is expected to debate and try to find a majority behind some Brexit options, including a longer delay and revoking Article 50.

Any petition signed by 100,000 people is debated at the British parliament.