May says Britain’s Brexit delay will be allowed in exceptional circumstances

PRIME Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday she would permit a delay to Britain’s departure from the European Union in exceptional circumstances, bowing to criticism from her own party over the government’s plan to fix the exit date in law.

The decision is a compromise with Conservative lawmakers who last week rebelled in parliament and inflicted an embarrassing defeat on Mrs May during a debate on the legislation that will end Britain’s EU membership.

The legislation, formally titled the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, later won approval to move to the next stage of the parliamentary process, although it still faces weeks of further scrutiny before becoming law.

Mrs May headed off a second rebellion by agreeing that her government’s plan to define the date of Britain’s EU exit as March 29, 2019, should be tempered by inserting a proviso allowing that date to be changed if necessary.

“If that power were to be used, it would be only in extremely exceptional circumstances and for the shortest possible time,” Mrs May told lawmakers. Parliament will have to approve any new date.

Junior Brexit Secretary Steve Baker added that he could not envisage the date being brought forward.

Mrs May to negotiate a transition deal with Brussels by March to reassure businesses and then seal a long-term trade deal by October. Brussels has said a detailed trade deal is likely to take much longer, and that Britain’s transition period must end by 2020.

In addition, Mrs May’s government has to undertake the huge legislative task of transferring the existing body of EU law into British law before it leaves in order to provide legal certainty for businesses.