UK rejects petition for 2nd EU vote

The British government yesterday formally rejected a petition signed by more than 4.125 million people calling for a second referendum on Britain's membership of the EU.

"We the undersigned call upon HM (Her Majesty's) government to implement a rule that if the remain or leave vote is less than 60 percent based a turnout less than 75 percent there should be another referendum," the petition said.

On June 23, on a 72 percent turnout, 52 percent (17.4 million people) voted in favour of Britain leaving the European Union.

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

The referendum result triggered Cameron's resignation. Members of the governing centre-right Conservative Party will choose either interior minister Theresa May or energy minister Andrea Leadsom as their next leader -- and therefore the next prime minister.

It will be down to the new premier to trigger Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty, which starts a two-year clock running on a country's exit from the bloc.

Meanwhile, police said hate crimes surged in Britain before and after the June 23 EU referendum, following a campaign dominated by a divisive debate about immigration.

Although police attributed the increase in part to greater vigilance by officers and greater awareness among the public, more than 3,000 incidents were reported to police across the country between June 16 and 30, up 42 percent on the same period last year, according to the National Police Chiefs' Council.