Brexit delays must be allowed if negotiations stall, say MPs
AN influential committee has made a fresh push for delays to Britain’s exit from the European Union if talks fail to make the necessary progress.
MPs warned that, even under the most optimistic scenario, there may not be enough time to complete all the work that is needed by the time the UK is scheduled to leave the bloc in March next year.
In a report, they repeated calls for an extension to the exit timetable if an agreement has not been finalised and called for the government to secure a mechanism which would also allow for any transition period to be extended.
The Brexit Committee also said it did not accept that Britain would leave without a deal if the Commons rejected the agreement secured by Prime Minister Theresa May.
It called for the government to allow a second parliamentary vote on a renegotiated settlement and said MPs and peers must be able to have a say on how the government proceeds.
Mrs May saw off a threatened rebellion earlier this month that would have given MPs the chance to block a “no deal” Brexit.
Committee chairman Hilary Benn said: “It is now more than two years since the referendum and the government has yet to agree on the customs arrangements it wants with our biggest, nearest and most important trading partner.
“We are told that most of the work on the withdrawal agreement is done, but the remaining issues represent some of the toughest questions the Prime Minister must grasp, and negotiations on the future partnership have yet to start in earnest.”
The PM is in Brussels for a meeting of the European Council.