U.K. granted more time to leave EU

But extension until May 22 is contingent on approval of May’s divorce deal by MPs

BRUSSELS — Worn down by three years of indecision in London, European Union leaders on Thursday grudgingly offered the U.K. more time to ease itself out of the bloc, delaying by several weeks — but not eliminating — the threat of a chaotic British exit.

After a meeting that stretched through the afternoon and over dinner, the bloc said Britain could postpone its departure, due on March 29, until May 22 — if the U.K. Parliament approves Prime Minister Theresa May’s divorce deal with the bloc next week.

If the twice-rejected deal is thrown out again, the bloc says Britain has until April 12 to “indicate a way forward.” May agreed to the plan, European Council President Donald Tusk said.

The deep uncertainty among leaders at an EU summit in Brussels was exceeded only by the high anxiety being felt by politicians, businesses and citizens in Britain. The British military has set up a command post in a bunker under the defence ministry in London to help co-ordinate “no-deal” planning.

Thursday’s summit opened with ominous warnings from EU leaders about the possibility of a no-deal Brexit.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned it was the responsibility of U.K. lawmakers to approve a Brexit deal and make sure Britain does not crash out of the bloc without an agreement.

“In case of a ‘no’ vote … it will guide everybody to a no-deal for sure,” Macron cautioned. “This is it.”

The House of Commons is split, both among and within its political parties, over whether and how to leave the EU. It has twice rejected the deal May brokered with the bloc’s leaders late last year.

This week, May finally acknowledged the Brexit gridlock and asked the EU to delay Britain’s departure until June 30 — enough time, she hopes, to win parliamentary approval for her deal in a third attempt and then pass the legislation necessary for a smooth departure.

But opposition to May’s the agreement among British politicians appeared to be hardening, rather than softening, after she blamed Parliament for the Brexit impasse.

On Wednesday, May accused lawmakers of “infighting,” “political games” and “arcane procedural rows,“but acknowledged no personal error in creating the deadlock.

A lawmaker from May’s Conservative Party called the speech “toxic.” Legislator Anna Soubry, of the breakaway Independent Group, described it as the “most dishonest and divisive statement from any prime minister.”

May called on lawmakers to back her agreement and refused to rule out a no-deal exit if they did not back her.