EU considers a Brexit extension... and Tusk backs a ‘long delay’

EUROPE’S leaders are considering whether to agree to UK calls for Brexit to be delayed.

On Thursday night, MPs backed a delay to Brexit beyond March 29 in dramatic scenes which saw a majority of the Conservative party oppose British prime minister Theresa May.

But any delay will require the agreement of the other 27 EU members, with talks about any conditions for an extension set to begin next week.

European Council president Donald Tusk met Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte in The Hague yesterday before talks with the bloc’s key power brokers Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron on Monday.

On Tuesday, Mr Tusk will come to Dublin to meet Taoiseach Leo Varadkar before a leaders summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Following his talks with Mr Tusk, Mr Rutte said the current Withdrawal Agreement is the ‘only deal on the table’.

Mr Tusk said: ‘I will appeal to the EU27 to be open to a long extension if the UK finds it necessary to rethink its Brexit strategy and build consensus around it.’

But European Parliament Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt questioned why the leaders of the 27 should grant an extension if Mrs May was ‘not ready for a cross-party approach to break the current deadlock’ in the Commons.

Mrs May is set to bring her Brexit deal to the Commons for a third meaningful vote next week, and UK attorneygeneral Geoffrey Cox has sought to provide further legal assurances about the backstop.