The Foreign Office has now formally rejected it saying that 33 million people have had their say and “the decision must be respected”.

Usually when a petition on parliament's website gains 100,000 signatures, the Petitions Committee considers it for a parliamentary debate.

In a statement it said: "The EU Referendum Act received Royal Assent in December 2015. The Act was scrutinised and debated in Parliament during its passage and agreed by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

"The Act set out the terms under which the referendum would take place, including provisions for setting the date, franchise and the question that would appear on the ballot paper.

"The Act did not set a threshold for the result or for minimum turnout.