The European Union could grant Britain’s request for a short Brexit delay if Parliament votes next week in favour of a stalled departure deal, European Council President Donald Tusk said on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Theresa May is writing to the EU to formally ask for Brexit to be postponed. One ministerial source told the BBC the longer delay could be up to two years, amid reports of a cabinet row, but No 10 said no decision had been made.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plans were thrown into further turmoil on Monday when the speaker of parliament ruled that she could not put her divorce deal to a new vote unless it was re-submitted in a fundamentally different form.
Theresa May's Brexit deal will not return to the Commons this week unless it has support from the DUP and Tory MPs, the chancellor says. The PM's plan is expected to be voted on for a third time in the coming days. But Philip Hammond told the BBC's Andrew Marr that it would only be put to MPs if “enough of our colleagues and the DUP are prepared to support it”.
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.
Theresa May's EU withdrawal deal has been rejected by MPs by an overwhelming majority for a second time, with just 17 days to go to Brexit. On Tuesday MPs voted down the prime minister's deal by 149 - a smaller margin than when they rejected it in January.
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.