European Council President Donald Tusk has said he will appeal to EU leaders “to be open to a long extension” of the Brexit deadline, if the UK needs to rethink its strategy and get consensus. His intervention came as UK MPs voted to seek a delay of the 29 March deadline to leave the EU. EU leaders meet in Brussels on 21 March and they would have the final say.
This week MPs in the UK voted against Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposed Brexit deal, but also voted against leaving the European Union without a deal of some sort. This means that May must apply for an extension to Article 50, which is the transition plan enacted by any member state that wants to withdraw from the EU.
MPs voted on Thursday by 413 to 202 - a majority of 211 - for Prime Minister Theresa May to ask the EU for a delay to Brexit. This means the UK may not now leave on 29 March as previously planned. Mrs. May says Brexit could be delayed by three months, to 30 June, if MPs back her deal in a vote next week.
Members of Parliament will vote later on Thursday whether to ask the EU for permission to delay Brexit beyond the 29 March departure date. It comes after MPs voted on Wednesday evening to reject a no-deal Brexit under any circumstances. Prime Minister Theresa May could also make a third attempt to get her EU withdrawal deal through Parliament in the next few days.
Business groups are exasperated after the Prime Minister's EU withdrawal plan was again rejected by Parliament. They called on MPs to shut down the possibility of a no-deal Brexit and come up with a clear EU exit plan. The City UK, the finance industry body, said leaving without a deal would be an own goal of historic proportions.
The Brexit deal negotiated by the Government of Theresa May and the European Union was rejected on Tuesday for the second time in the British Parliament despite the adjustments that the Prime Minister managed to reach in the European bloc.
Theresa May says she has secured legally binding changes to her Brexit deal, a day ahead of MPs voting on it. But European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned if the deal was voted down there was no third chance. They spoke at a joint press conference in Strasbourg after a late meeting.
A report into the impact of Brexit on banking and finance firms says some £900bn in financial firms' assets have been moved out of the UK. It adds this has cost £3bn-4bn and involves 5,000 expected staff moves or local hires, and that figure will rise.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has issued a plea for support as the showdown on her Brexit deal looms, warning the UK will be plunged into crisis if MPs reject the Withdrawal Agreement. In a stark message ahead of Tuesday’s Commons vote, the Prime Minister said “no-one knows” what will happen if her plan is defeated, with the possibility of Brexit being derailed completely.
The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier on Friday proposed that Britain could leave the bloc's customs union after the divorce though the offer would not include Northern Ireland which will most probably anger London.