After nearly three years of intense debate and talks in London and Brussels, Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday admitted that her commitment to deliver Brexit by the due date of March 29 will not happen, and sought an extension until June 30.
But officials in Brussels, frustrated by years of indecision in London, said the extension will need to be limited until May 23, when elections to the European Parliament are due. The final decision will be taken at the European Council summit on Thursday.
A Brexit date beyond May 23 implies that the UK will need to participate in the European elections, a prospect not many are prepared to contemplate in the currently charged atmosphere in Westminster.
May told MPs in the House of Commons: “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 Members of European Parliaments is, I believe, unacceptable”.
May sent a letter to Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, detailing the context of parliament rejecting the withdrawal agreement twice and her inability to re-introduce it due to the speaker’s ruling earlier this week that only a fundamentally different motion could be re-introduced after being rejected in the same session.
May, however, told Tusk that she would continue to seek parliamentary approval as soon as possible, but it would not be possible to do so before March 29, the current due date of withdrawal.
{{/usCountry}}May, however, told Tusk that she would continue to seek parliamentary approval as soon as possible, but it would not be possible to do so before March 29, the current due date of withdrawal.
{{/usCountry}}She faced a difficult time during Prime Minister’s Question Time in the House of Commons, as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused her of leading the UK into “crisis, chaos and division”.
“Months of running down the clock and a concerted campaign of blackmail, bullying and bribery has failed to convince the House or the country that her deal is anything but a damaging national failure and should be rejected,” he said.