More than 700,000 people have rushed to sign a petition on the British parliament’s website calling for the government to revoke its divorce notice to the European Union and remain in the bloc.
Attracting thousands of signatures every few minutes, the petition took off in the hours after Prime Minister Theresa May made a televised address to the country late on Wednesday, criticising squabbling lawmakers for failing to agree an exit strategy and telling parliament to make a final choice.
“It is high time we made a decision,” May said, telling Britons: “I am on your side.”
EU leaders will tell May on Thursday she can have two months to organise an orderly Brexit but Britain could face a disruptive ejection from the bloc next Friday if she fails to win backing from parliament.
More than 17 million Britons voted in favour of leaving the EU in a 2016 referendum while 16 million voted to remain, with May serving notice of the UK’s intent to leave under Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty the following year.