Revoke Article 50 petition reaches five million signatures

A petition calling on the Government to revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit has surpassed the five-million signature mark, making it the most popular UK parliamentary petition of all time.

“The government repeatedly claims exiting the EU is 'the will of the people',” the petition reads. “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.”

Two days after the campaign picked up stream, three million people have now signed. Meanwhile, a rival petition calling for the UK to leave the EU without a deal has around 392,000.

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The Revoke Article 50 petition is now the most-signed petition ever submitted via the official parliamentary portal, surpassing the 4.1 million signatures garnered by a 2016 petition to hold a second referendum if the winning side won by less than 60%.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said that revoking Article 50 is technically possible but “highly unlikely”, the BBC reports. Meanwhile, Downing Street dismissed the calls, saying Theresa May has made it abundantly clear that cancelling Brexit is not an option.

Nonetheless, Remainers welcomed the milestone as a display of the strength of pro-EU feeling among the British public.