The initiators of a citizens’ forum on Tuesday delivered to parliament 56,000 signatures in favour of holding a referendum before any more powers are given away to the EU.

The group, which includes several university professors, collected the signatures in six weeks.

The petition forms a citizens’ initiative, for which at least 40,000 signatures are required. Once these are handed in to parliament, and providing the subject covered has not been debated in parliament in the past two years, a decision is made on whether or not to hold a referendum.

The initiators want a referendum on handing more power to Brussels because they think the government is acting as if there is no alternative. This, they say, is a cowardly strategy designed to avoid criticism of their policy.