Taoiseach and Tusk to discuss delay to Brexit

As Theresa May warns MPs to back her deal or risk staying in EU

‘Collective political failure’

LEO Varadkar is set to meet European Council president Donald Tusk in Dublin tomorrow to prepare for an expected Brexit delay by the UK.

It comes as Theresa May said that the House of Commons should accept her deal – or Brexit may not happen at all.

She also said that Britain voting for MEPs in the next European elections in May would be a symbol of ‘political failure’.

Speaking from Chicago at the weekend, the Taoiseach said Cabinet will this week step up its planning for a no-deal scenario, and admitted: ‘It is not going to be a case of everything being all right.’

‘Brexit is bad news and a no-deal Brexit would be very bad news,’ he added.

He said the Government will sign off on support packages for businesses, farmers, the agri-food sector and exporters at Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.

‘We’ll have the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday and the European Council will be in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to consider any requests that may come from the UK at that point for an extension,’ he told reporters.

He added: ‘Obviously we are hoping that the deal will be ratified by the House of Commons before then but if it’s not, we are ready. We have already passed the legislation to provide for a no-deal Brexit.

‘But the package of supports that we will put in place for hundreds of millions of euros… will support and protect incomes and jobs in those most exposed sectors, particularly in the agri-food sector and will also help other businesses and other exporters to be orientated away from the UK markets to other markets. And the country is in a good space to deal with this if we have to.’

Senior Conservative ministers have conceded that a vote on passing the Brexit deal could be pulled this week if there is no clear majority for it – after Mrs May warned a failure to accept it could result in no Brexit at all.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, the British prime minister said a ‘short technical extension’ to Article 50 will be needed to legislate for the agreement if passed, taking the UK beyond the March 29 Brexit date.

But if the deal is not ratified in the Commons, the extension will be a long one, which will require the UK to participate in the upcoming European elections in May.

‘The idea of the British people going to the polls to elect MEPs three years after voting to leave the EU hardly bears thinking about,’ Mrs May said.

‘There could be no more potent symbol of parliament’s collective political failure.’

She added: ‘If parliament can find a way to back the Brexit deal before European Council, the UK will leave the EU this spring, without having to take part in the European elections, and we can get on with building our future relationship with the EU.

‘If it cannot, we will not leave the EU for many months, if ever.’

Whatever happens, the EU expects that the UK will seek an extension to Article 50 at this week’s European Council summit.