(Reuters) — British Prime Minister David Cameron told parliament on Monday (June 27) that the public vote to leave the European Union must be respected as he laid out the groundwork for his successor to trigger the country’s exit from the EU.
A petition on the UK Parliament website, which has been signed by more than 3.7 million people, calls for a second referendum on the UK’s relationship with the EU but Cameron rejected the idea.
“I am clear and the cabinet agreed this morning that the decision must be accepted and the process of implementing the decision in the best possible way must now begin,” he told members of the House of Commons.
“Although leaving the EU was not the path I recommended, I am the first to praise our incredible strengths as a country,” he added.
“As we proceed with implementing this decision and facing the challenges that it will undoubtedly bring, I believe we should hold fast to a vision of Britain that wants to be respected abroad, tolerant at home, engaged in the world,” he said.
The law provisioning an EU member country’s exit from the union is Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty that is effectively the EU’s constitution. It has never been invoked before.
Cameron made it clear to UK lawmakers he would leave that act to his successor.