Downing Street insists there is NO chance of a second Brexit referendum
Second chance at staying in the European Union is 'not remotely on the cards' says PM
DAVID Cameron has slammed the possibility of Brits having a second EU referendum, saying it is "not remotely on the cards".
His official spokeswoman at Downing Street said that last Thursday's vote was "decisive" and that the Government's focus is now on delivering on it.
It follows calls from entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson to re-think the outcome of Brexit, warning that the Leave vote has "opened a Pandora's Box of negative consequences" for Britain.
He said: "Based on the misrepresentation made by the Leave campaign, Parliament needs to take the petition of more than three million people to call for a new referendum seriously.
"The alternative is to watch a rapid decline of Britain's health and wellbeing."
Ukip leader Nigel Farage has also rubbished calls for a second EU referendum, saying “it’s not the best of three”.
But back in May he said that a 52-48 win for the Remain side would be “unfinished business” - and such a narrow margin would prompt him to fight for a second referendum.
At the time he said: “In a 52-48 referendum this would be unfinished business by a long way.
"If the remain campaign win two-thirds to one-third that ends it.”
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A record 33.5million people voted in the referendum, the highest turn-out since the 1992 general election.
Leave won with a margin of 1,269,501 votes.
Branson said Farage should now accept the reverse scenario.
EU can't be serious: How could a second EU referendum called to overrule the vote for Brexit?
WITH millions signing a petition to have the EU referendum re-run could we looked at just how likely a second vote really is.
It has become a hot topic after a petition to trigger another referendum reached more than three million signatures.
It states: “We the undersigned call upon HM Government to implement a rule that if the remain or leave vote is less than 60% based on a turnout less than 75% there should be another referendum.”
But is that actually possible? The short answer is no.
Once it received more than 100,000 signatures it became eligible to be debated in parliament.
However there are other ways it could be disregarded and run again because a referendum is in fact not legally binding.
In theory, the PM could ignore the referendum result and put the question to a parliamentary debate.
Given that the majority of MPs want us to remain they could very well throw out the result or order another referendum to take place.
Another way to avoid Brexit is if another general election was to take place in the near future.
This would require a motion to pass in the House of Commons with a two-thirds majority to overturn the Fixed term Parliament Act, which says the next election should take place in May 2020.
Or if the Prime Minister fails to invoke Article 50, which sets a two-year time limit on the negotiations to get us out of the EU, then it could lead to another referendum.
If whoever replaces him in Downing Street does not activate it for a while either than the next General Election could come before the negotiations are complete.
Overall however, those seeking a second referendum are unlikely to have their wishes fulfilled.
He added: "The vast majority of MPs voted in by the electorate want the UK to stay part of Europe.
"In light of the misrepresentations of the Leave campaign, Parliament should reject the results of this non-binding referendum as Nicola Sturgeon has announced she will do in Scotland’s Parliament.
The alternative [to a second referendum] is to watch a rapid decline of Britain's health and wellbeing
Richard Branson
"Before the UK government invokes Article 50 of the European Treaty and does irreversible damage to the United Kingdom, the people’s elected representatives must decide whether the facts that have emerged really warrant abandoning the EU and whether a second referendum will be needed."
Despite Farage hailed June 23 as "Independence Day" - soon a petition on the parliamentary website called for a second referendum.
It has attracted more than 3.7 million signatures, though it was revealed on Sunday that nearly 80,000 names have been struck off after being found to be fraudulent.
Asked whether the issue of a re-run referendum was discussed at Cabinet, Mr Cameron's spokeswoman said: "That is not remotely on the cards.
"There was a decisive result and the focus of the Government is to get on and deliver that."
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