Brexit rerun? As cold reality sets in, 3 million Brits seek a second vote

David Cameron has resigned, but he may well be persuaded to stay. For one, it takes three months for the Brexit referendum to be ratified and forwarded to the European Union. The dismantling can take as much as two years. Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty (which provides the constitutional basis for the EU). allows for that period and doesn’t make it easy. Cameron may have been the spearhead of the ‘remain’ campaign, but he is still the best person to ensure that all bridges are not burnt, while also seeing that the UK does not go that bridge too far. In fact, he could technically not invoke Article 50 and let the referendum be water into the Thames. With 3 million EU residents in the UK working on bi-lateral and multi-lateral projects, it is already a messy business. As the reality of it all sinks in, Brexit’s downside is beginning to manifest itself. The EU bloc has turned aggressive and is displaying the rancour of the truly scorned. Meanwhile, President Obama has opted to maintain relations with the EU, and his remark about the UK being at the back of the queue was harsh. [caption id=“attachment_2857938” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of David Cameron. Reuters[/caption] What people fail to realise is that the EU charter makes it very hard to wriggle out, and over these two years, the 27 members can actually create hurdles for the UK at each step. When the celebration gets over and the garlands wilt, what is left is a huge hangover. Monday morning reality is going to kick in, and one of the major reasons for the blues is that there is no road map for the glorious tomorrow. The ’leave’ campaign hadn’t ever expected to win, so, besides whipping up emotions, they hadn’t really shared any concrete proposals. Where are the bricks to build tomorrow? No wonder then that even some of those who voted out are beginning to wonder if it wouldn’t have been politically more pragmatic to have stayed in the EU, and also established more independent criteria on issues that bothered London. The referendum is already beginning to get into choppy waters. Over the weekend, as many as three million Britons have signed a petition calling on the British Parliament to hold a new referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union (EU). The petition, signed by 3,030,840 supporters and counting, led to the collapse of the website of the House of Commons for sometime on Friday, because of the high numbers of people who visited the website to ask for the rerun. Started by ’leave’ voter William Oliver Healey, it shrilly called for implementing the rule that ‘if the Remain or Leave vote is less than 60 per cent based on a turnout less than 75 per cent, there should be another referendum.’ Do the math. The UK Parliament released a message on its official website: ‘We will consider the request for a discussion, as Parliament is committed to consider any request or initiative with more than 100,000 signatures.’ Put the bill into Parliament, and you are paving the way for a legal wrangle that could snarl up the issue for years. The committee concerned with petitions will meet on Tuesday to decide whether to approve a debate in this regard,says one report. A total of 51.9 per cent of Britons voted on Thursday to leave the EU in a referendum, nicknamed “Brexit,” with the participation of 72.1 per cent of voters