More than 1,500 sign letter calling on PM to let British people have final say on EU membership

More than 1,500 of the UK’s top lawyers have urged Theresa May and MPs to back a second Brexit referendum, saying that “democratic government is not frozen in time”.

Labour peer Helena Kennedy QC, former court of appeal judge Konrad Schiemann, and David Edward, a former judge at the court of justice of the European Communities, are among those who have called for a “people’s vote” on EU membership.

In a letter to the prime minister, they say parliament should not be bound by the 2016 vote any more than it should be by the 1975 referendum that took Britain into the EU, especially when there were question marks over its validity.

They write that “voters are entitled to know what they are voting for”, adding: “There was a key difference between 1975 and 2016. The earlier referendum was held after negotiations were complete, so voters knew what they were voting for.

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“In 2016, the nature of the negotiation process and its outcome were unknown. Voters faced a choice between a known reality and an unknown alternative. In the campaign, untestable claims took the place of facts and reality.”

Human rights specialist Jonathan Cooper, a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, said: “The current state of the Brexit negotiations is worrying people throughout the UK and the legal profession is no exception to that. We represent people from across industry and society and we see every day the way the prospect of a catastrophic Brexit deal is already causing real harm.

“This letter to the prime minister has been signed by over a thousand of my colleagues who are convinced that not only is a people’s vote the right thing to do, it is the most democratic thing to do as well.”

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The letter follows a similar one from more than 70 business leaders who have backed a second Brexit referendum, warning that the UK faces “either a blindfold or a destructive hard Brexit” that would be bad for firms and jobs.

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 people in the north of Ireland – from the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland – including representatives from the arts, business, education, sport, law and medicine have written an open letter to the Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, asking him to defend the rights of Irish citizens in the region.

“We collectively seek to give expression to a deep sense of fear in respect of the current Brexit negotiations,” said a spokesman. “We urge the taoiseach and the Irish government to stand firm in these negotiations, to stand up for the Good Friday Agreement and a rights-based society, and to ensure that rights enjoyed in Donegal will continue to be enjoyed in Derry.”