Brexit delay news: EU will allow short Article 50 extension but only if MPs vote for Theresa May's deal

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The EU will allow a short Article 50 extension and delay to Brexit but only if MPs vote for Theresa May's deal, Donald Tusk has said.

European Council president Mr Tusk, speaking in Brussels, said: "In the light of the consultations that I have conducted over the past days, I believe that a short extension would be possible.

"But it would be conditional on a positive vote on the Withdrawal Agreement in the House of Commons.

"The question remains open as to the duration of such an extension."

President of the European Council Donald Tusk delivers a statement on Brexit ahead of the EU summit in Brussels
REUTERS

After his statement, Mr Tusk tweeted: "Even if the hope for final success may seem frail, even illusory, and although Brexit fatigue is increasingly visible and justified, we cannot give up seeking - until the very last moment - a positive solution."

It comes after Theresa May today asked the EU to delay Brexit until June 30 and threatened to resign as Prime Minister if MPs demand a longer postponement.

Her stance increased the risk of the country crashing out accidentally on no-deal terms.

Under pressure: Theresa May speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday
AFP/Getty Images

Mrs May said she would stage a third vote on her twice-rejected deal, and if that failed, Britain should leave by June 30 in order to avoid having to hold elections to the European Parliament.

She will make a statement outside No 10 in Downing Street at 8.15pm after holding meetings with opposition party leaders and a Brexiteer group.

Mr Tusk indicated that it should be possible for leaders of the remaining EU 27 to approve his plan for a short extension at a summit in the Belgian capital starting on Thursday.

Prime Minister Theresa May and some of her Cabinet ministers in the Commons today
EPA

He said that while he did not foresee the need for another "extraordinary" summit next week, he would not hesitate to call one if necessary.

"If the leaders approve my recommendations and there is a positive vote in the House of Commons next week, we can finalise and formalise the decision on extension in the written procedure," he said.

"However, if there is such a need, I will not hesitate to invite the members of the European Council for a meeting to Brussels next week."

Speaking in the Commons earlier today, Mrs May said: “The idea that three years after voting to leave the EU, the people of this country should be asked to elect a new set of MEPs is, I believe, unacceptable.

Theresa May's letter to Donald Tusk
AFP/Getty Images

“It would be a failure to deliver on the referendum decision this House said it would deliver.

“I have therefore this morning written to President [Donald] Tusk ... informing him that the UK seeks an extension to the Article 50 period until June 30.”

The pound fell within minutes of Mrs May’s statement, and was down 0.93 per cent against the euro shortly before 1pm.

Mrs May will formally ask the European Council summit in Brussels tomorrow, where the unanimous approval of all 27 remaining member states is required for any extension.

It is not yet clear if the EU will agree to the date. Some European legal experts think Britain must leave earlier to avoid holding elections for new MEPs in May.

She asked for a three-month delay to Brexit
AFP/Getty Images

In an astonishing tirade, Mrs May told the House of Commons the public were fed up with “navel gazing” by Parliament. “This House has indulged itself on Europe for too long,” she said. “The Government intends to bring forward proposals for a third meaningful vote.

“If that vote is passed the extension will give the House time to consider the withdrawal agreement Bill. If not, the House will have to decide how to proceed.”

Hinting she would quit if Parliament forced a longer delay, Mrs May added: “But, as Prime Minister, I am not prepared to delay Brexit any further than June 30.”

Mrs May’s close aides confirmed she was ready to resign if thwarted. Asked if she would quit, an official said: “You should infer from those words the strength of the PMs resolve and extent of her determination to deliver for the people.”

A senior minister commented: “Today represents a further event in a catastrophic failure of the political process - here and in the EU.

"That we are where we are with a week or so to go before March 29 is nothing short of a matter of bewilderment for the UK and some shame for us all in Parliament. We are fortunate the British people are so patient.”

In her letter to European Council president Mr Tusk, Mrs May said that it remains the Government’s policy to take the UK out of the EU “in an orderly manner”.

She set out plans to prevent Speaker John Bercow blocking a third vote on her deal, which was rejected by MPs by 230 votes in January and 149 votes earlier this month.

Theresa May wrote to Donald Tusk asking for an extension to the Brexit deadline (file image)
Reuters

Only six days ago Mrs May’s de facto deputy David Lidington described delaying Brexit from March 29 until June as a “downright reckless” idea.

It appeared to be a wholesale cave-in to Right-wing MPs and ministers, who piled pressure on the Prime Minister in Cabinet yesterday and plotted delegations in private meetings at Westminster last night.

Mrs May’s demand flew in the face of a European Commission document that flatly opposed extending British membership of the EU to June 30 unless European elections are held in the UK. The memo sent to officials said Britain either must leave before May 23 or else face a lengthy delay to at least the end of this year.

It stated: “This is the only way of protecting the functioning of the EU institutions and their ability to take decisions.”

The reason is that EU lawyers say European MPs must be elected by each member state to maintain the legal status of the institutions.

Mrs May’s nuclear ultimatum caused astonishment and uproar across the Commons.

Jeremy Corbyn accused her of “a lack of respect” and said she was desperate after “blackmail, bullying and bribing” had failed to pass her deal.

But Mrs May tried to blame Parliament for her ultimatum, saying MPs had voted against a second referendum and moves towards a softer Brexit. She claimed: “It’s time this Parliament faced the consequences.”

 David Lidington described a short extension as ‘reckless’ last week
PA

Labour’s Yvette Cooper said Mrs May was “in the worst state of denial”. “Truly shocking,” she tweeted.

Liberal Democrat Tim Farron warned: “We are dancing to the tune of extremists, not listening to the people.”

Cross-party groups of MPs desperately hatched plots to seize the reins from the Prime Minister.

On Monday, the group that includes Tories Sir Oliver Letwin and Nick Boles and Ms Cooper, plan to relaunch their bid to take control of the Commons agenda to debate other Brexit options.

Jean-Claude Juncker said Britain would be “in the hands of God” 
AFP/Getty Images

A minister told the Evening Standard privately: “We are going to stop this nonsense. If the only way to do that is to vote for Cooper/Boles then so be it.”

Labour’s front bench launched a bid to challenge Mrs May’s letter to Mr Tusk in the Commons this afternoon.

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer applied for an emergency debate under Standing Order 24 on the “length and purpose” of the delay, which some MPs hoped could be used to trigger a vote.Mr Lidington told the Commons on March 14 that an extension of the Article 50 process to the end of June would be impossible.

He told MPs: “In the absence of a deal, seeking such a short and, critically, one-off extension would be downright reckless ... making a no-deal scenario far more, rather than less, likely.”

He went on: “Not only that, but from everything we have heard from the EU, both in public and in private, it is a proposal it would not accept.”

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