We want to leave EU with a deal on March 29, says May

It is very clear the government’s position is the same, we triggered Article 50 ... that had a two year timeline, that ends on March 29, we want to leave with a deal and that is what we are working for.”

Theresa May, British prime minister

london — The British government on Wednesday downplayed a report that its chief Brexit negotiator said lawmakers will have to choose between backing Prime Minister Theresa May’s unpopular divorce deal and a delay to the UK’s exit from the European Union.

An ITV News correspondent, Angus Walker, said he overheard negotiator Olly Robbins in a Brussels bar saying the government would ask Parliament in late March to back her agreement, rejected by lawmakers last month, or seek an extension to the Brexit deadline.

May said on Wednesday the government had not changed its position that it does not want to delay Britain’s March 29 exit from the European Union.

“It is very clear the government’s position is the same, we triggered Article 50 ... that had a two year timeline, that ends on March 29, we want to leave with a deal and that is what we are working for,” she said.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay insisted the government was not planning a delay, saying “the prime minister has been very clear that we are committed to leaving on March 29.”

Lawmakers overwhelmingly rejected May’s Brexit deal with the EU last month, and she is now trying to secure changes before bringing it back for another vote. The EU insists it will not renegotiate the legally binding withdrawal agreement.

If a deal is not approved by the British and European parliaments before March 29, the UK faces a messy sudden Brexit that could cause severe economic disruption.

Barclay said the government wants to secure a deal, but is also preparing for a “no-deal” Brexit.

Opposition politicians have accused May of trying to fritter away time as the clock ticks down, in order to leave lawmakers with a lastminute choice between her deal and no deal.

On Tuesday, May urged lawmakers to give her more time, promising Parliament a series of votes on the next steps in the Brexit process on February 27 if she has not secured changes to the Brexit deal by then.

“What the prime minister is up to is obvious,” Labour Party Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said on Wednesday. She’s coming to Parliament every other week, pretending there’s progress and trying to buy another two weeks, edging her way toward March 21, when the next EU summit is, to try to put her deal up against no-deal in those final few weeks.

“Parliament needs to say ‘That’s not on.’”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday she would do everything she could to achieve an orderly Brexit before the March 29 deadline but said any deal must be fair and work in practice.

“We agree that we must do everything to achieve an orderly Brexit,” Merkel told reporters at a news conference with Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.

“It is about providing as much security as possible and we both feel a duty to do everything for a deal but it must be a fair agreement that works in practice and we have some work ahead,” she said. —