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The petition for a second EU referendum that has attracted nearly three million signatures was started by a right-wing activist a month before the vote.

In an amusing plot twist, Vote Leave campaigner William Oliver Healey, an activist for the English Democrats, started the petition that has since become the last hope for millions of pro-EU voters.

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On his Facebook page, posts by Mr Healey show that he set up the petition on May 23, with polls at the time suggesting a likely triumph for the Remain campaign.


An outspoken Leave campaigner who describes himself as a ‘nationalist’ in other posts, Mr Healey has celebrated Britain’s decision to quit the EU.



But, ironically, his own petition has been hijacked by Remainers – and a government committee will debate the petition on Tuesday, a House of Commons spokesperson told Metro.co.uk.

Mr Healey’s petition has backfired spectacularly (Picture: petition.parliament.uk)

Defending his decision to set it up, he wrote: ‘This petition was created at a time (over a month ago) when it was looking unlikely that ‘leave’ were going to win, with the intention of making it harder for ‘remain’ to further shackle us to the EU.

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‘Due to the result, the petition has been hijacked by the remain campaign. Admittedly, my actions were premature however, my intentions were as stated above. There was no guarantee of a Leave victory at that time!

‘Having said that, if it had not been mine, it would have been orchestrated by someone on the remain campaign.’

Here’s the full post:

https://www.facebook.com/oliver.healey.3/posts/1351108038239991

The petition has amassed more signatures than any other on the official government website.

In a Facebook post from last month, Mr Healey insisted he would call for a second referendum because the electoral register was not ‘100% complete’.

2 million people sign petition calling for a second EU referendum

He said: ‘The electoral register has had 10 million people removed from it. I will be calling for a second referendum on the EU with a proper 100% complete register.’

Mr Healey set up the petition so that any British citizen or UK resident can sign – including EU citizens living in the country who were ineligible to vote.

It is possible that non-voters and even regretful Leave voters have joined Remain supporters in putting their names to the petition.

A House of Commons spokesperson said: ‘The government responds to all e-petitions that reach 10,000 signatures within 21 days.

‘The committee meets on Tuesday afternoons and will next meet on Tuesday 28 June, where they will consider the petition ‘EU Referendum Rules triggering a 2nd EU Referendum’ as it has now passed the 100,000 threshold.’

Metro.co.uk has approached Mr Healey for comment.