Javert
Volunteer Moderator
I can pretty much guarantee that there won't be a second referendum identical to this one or some kind of rerun. Wrong wording on this petition as they would never be unlikely to ever get 70% turnout.
However, there might be another referendum linked e.g. a referendum to validate the results of leave negotiations, to which a refusal vote would then cancel out the first referendum. This would not happen for a year or two at least.
I would start a petition along the lines of, if the deal to divorce from the EU is significantly different from what the leave campaign said it would be, and the trade negotiations with other nations are significantly more complex, difficult and costly than what was claimed, there should be a referendum for the UK people to ratify (or not) the terms of leaving the EU.
There would only be a point to this though is a different result was possible and expected. Fundamentally there is a big movement of voters who have never voted before who have turned out to vote on this one issue because rightly or wrongly, they felt that voting leave would put a stop to immigration, and presumably felt that they had nothing else to lose from leaving the EU. Also, large majority of older pensioners who voted leave and it's not really clear why yet. If you can't persuade some of those to change their vote, no point.
Problem is, the political world is now turned upside down because all conventional wisdom is out of the window. History up to last week shows that in referendums like this, in the end people will vote the majority for the safe and known choice which experts advise will be economically the best for the country. This has now been turned on its head.
History also showed that younger people are more likely to vote for idealistic options, whilst older people are more likely to vote for status quo and practicality. Again, this has been turned on its head.
No government in their right mind will now hold any referendum if they can avoid it, especially if one of the options involves an implicit vote to reduce or stop immigration into the country.
Anyway, what I actually suspect will happen is that Westminster will join the EFTA or some other agreement similar to non EU countries in Europe in order to maintain the single market, without holding a referendum. This will generate a lot of fuss, but it's the obvious solution for parliament and I suspect this is what will happen if the EU agree. Leave campaign will sell this as a step on the road to full independence with no single market one day.
However, there might be another referendum linked e.g. a referendum to validate the results of leave negotiations, to which a refusal vote would then cancel out the first referendum. This would not happen for a year or two at least.
I would start a petition along the lines of, if the deal to divorce from the EU is significantly different from what the leave campaign said it would be, and the trade negotiations with other nations are significantly more complex, difficult and costly than what was claimed, there should be a referendum for the UK people to ratify (or not) the terms of leaving the EU.
There would only be a point to this though is a different result was possible and expected. Fundamentally there is a big movement of voters who have never voted before who have turned out to vote on this one issue because rightly or wrongly, they felt that voting leave would put a stop to immigration, and presumably felt that they had nothing else to lose from leaving the EU. Also, large majority of older pensioners who voted leave and it's not really clear why yet. If you can't persuade some of those to change their vote, no point.
Problem is, the political world is now turned upside down because all conventional wisdom is out of the window. History up to last week shows that in referendums like this, in the end people will vote the majority for the safe and known choice which experts advise will be economically the best for the country. This has now been turned on its head.
History also showed that younger people are more likely to vote for idealistic options, whilst older people are more likely to vote for status quo and practicality. Again, this has been turned on its head.
No government in their right mind will now hold any referendum if they can avoid it, especially if one of the options involves an implicit vote to reduce or stop immigration into the country.
Anyway, what I actually suspect will happen is that Westminster will join the EFTA or some other agreement similar to non EU countries in Europe in order to maintain the single market, without holding a referendum. This will generate a lot of fuss, but it's the obvious solution for parliament and I suspect this is what will happen if the EU agree. Leave campaign will sell this as a step on the road to full independence with no single market one day.
