UK's May asks wary EU to delay Brexit
LONDON — Exactly 1,000 days after Britain voted to leave the European Union, and nine days before it is scheduled to walk out the door, Prime Minister Theresa May hit the pause button Wednesday, asking the bloc to postpone the U.K.'s departure until June 30.
EU leaders, who are exasperated by Britain's Brexit melodrama, said they would only grant the extension if May can win the U.K. Parliament's approval next week for her twice-rejected Brexit deal. Otherwise, the U.K. is facing a chaotic “nodeal” departure from the bloc within days, or a much longer delay that May says she will not allow while she is in power.
Withdrawing without a deal could mean huge disruptions for businesses and U.K. residents, as well as those in the 27 remaining EU countries.
“As prime minister I am not prepared to delay Brexit any further than June 30,” May told the House of Commons — a hint she could quit if Britain is forced to accept a longer pause.
In a letter to European Council President Donald Tusk, May acknowledged an unwelcome truth: the Brexit process “clearly will not be completed before 29 March, 2019” — the date fixed in law two years ago for Britain's departure.
May asked to delay Britain's withdrawal until June 30, and said she would set out her reasons to EU leaders at a summit in Brussels on Thursday.
Her longshot plan is to hold a third vote in Parliament on her deal next week, then use the EU-granted extension to pass the legislation needed for an orderly departure from the EU.
Tusk said he thought a short delay to Brexit “will be possible, but it would be conditional on a positive vote on the withdrawal agreement in the House of Commons.”
May's request — and Tusk's response — leaves Britain and the bloc facing Brexit uncertainty right up to the deadline for departure.
“Even if the hope for a final success may seem frail, even illusory, and although Brexit fatigue is increasingly visible and justified, we cannot give up seeking until the very last moment a positive solution,” Tusk said in Brussels.