Theresa May asks for three-month Brexit delay as Tusk 'offers one-year flexible extension'

WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Theresa May has written to European Council president Donald Tusk asking for an extension to Article 50 of three months to June 30, 2019.

The development came as EU sources said European Council President Donald Tusk was preparing to offer the UK a year-long "flexible" extension to Brexit.

Mrs May has proposed that the UK should leave before European Parliamentary elections on May 23, if UK MPs agree a withdrawal deal in time.

But she said the UK would prepare to field candidates in case they do not reach an agreement.

Theresa May is to write to Donald Tusk today asking for an extension to Brexit
AFP/Getty Images

Tusk's plan would allow the UK until March 31 2020 to ratify a Brexit deal, with the option to leave sooner if a deal is reached beforehand.

The plan will need to be agreed by EU leaders next week at a summit.

AP

Theresa May's existing Brexit deal has been rejected by MPs three times already and she has done a deal with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to reach a compromise in order to break the deadlock.

Theresa May has written to European Council president Donald Tusk asking for an extension to Article 50 to June 30, 2019.

AP

But the Prime Minister has not yet secured cabinet support for the delay to Brexit to prevent the UK from crashing out of the EU without a deal.

AP

Earlier this week Mrs May said she would seek a delay that is "as short as possible" to the current Brexit date of April 12.

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox told BBC that if the talks between UK's Conservative and Labour parties fail, the delay is "likely to be a long one"

Yvette Cooper’s no-deal Brexit bill was last night being considered in the House of Lords after pro-Brexit peers failed in a “filibustering” attempt to “thwart” it.

Flexible deal: Donald Tusk 
REUTERS

The bill, which attempts to avoid no-deal by legally binding Mrs May into seeking an extension to Brexit, was subject to seven hours of procedural wrangling.

It cleared the Commons in a single day on Wednesday and its consideration in the House of Lords is expected to continue at the start of next week.

In a tweet, Labour peer Andrew Adonis said: "House of Lords just adjourned after 12 hours on the Yvette Cooper bill, 7 hours of it a filibuster by Brexiters.

"We complete consideration on Monday, well in time for next week’s crucial European Council to agree a long extension of [Article 50]."

Talks between the Government and Labour aimed at breaking the Brexit deadlock have so far been described as “productive” by Downing Street.

Mrs May and Jeremy Corbyn's negotiating teams met for four-and-a-half hours in the Cabinet Office on Thursday for "detailed" talks.

The talks are aimed at finding a consensus Brexit position ahead of a crunch summit of European Union leaders in Brussels on April 10.

David Lidington, effectively the deputy prime minister, led the Government's negotiating team with Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay, Chief Whip Julian Smith, Business Secretary Greg Clark and Theresa May's chief of staff Gavin Barwell.

On the other side of the table were shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer and shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey along with senior Labour officials.

A Downing Street spokesman said the "detailed and productive technical talks" were supported by civil servants.

Flextension: Theresa May and Donald Tusk
PA

"The Government and the Opposition hope to meet again tomorrow for further work to find a way forward to deliver on the referendum, mindful of the need to make progress ahead of the forthcoming European Council," the spokesman said.

Any decision on an extension to Brexit in order to prevent the UK crashing out of the EU on April 12 will be taken by EU leaders at that summit.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was still hopeful that a no-deal Brexit could be avoided as "where there's a will there's a way".

Speaking in Dublin alongside Irish premier Leo Varadkar, she said: "We will simply have to be able to do this. We have to be successful and we hope for a solution that we can agree together with Britain."

Mr Varadkar said: "Matters continue to play out in London and I think we need to be patient and understanding of the predicament that they are in.

"But of course, any further extension must require and must have a credible and realistic way forward."

The talks in Westminster between the Government and Opposition have highlighted divisions within both the Tory and Labour ranks.

Backbench Labour MPs have issued a warning to Mr Corbyn not to include a second Brexit referendum in any compromise deal thrashed out with Mrs May.

Arriving for the talks in Whitehall, shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir confirmed that a "confirmatory" referendum was among the ideas on the table for discussion.

But a group of 25 Labour MPs wrote to Mr Corbyn warning that a second public vote would "divide the country further and add uncertainty for business".

They warned: "A second referendum would be exploited by the far right, damage the trust of many core Labour voters and reduce our chances of winning a general election," they warned.

Signatories included veteran backbenchers Sir Kevin Barron, Dennis Skinner and Ronnie Campbell, former minister Caroline Flint and MPs for Leave-voting areas of the North and Midlands including Gloria De Piero, Sarah Champion and Gareth Snell.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in