Macron: Change red lines if you want to delay Brexit

EMMANUEL Macron warned yesterday that he would block any request to delay Brexit unless Britain changed its negotiating position.

The French president insisted that if Theresa May failed to get her deal past MPs and asked for a delay then the UK must make ‘a new choice’ about the kind of Brexit it wanted.

This could mean Mrs May being forced to compromise in areas she has said are red lines, such as gaining an independent trade policy.

Spanish premier Pedro Sanchez also said he would not grant an extension if Mrs May failed to set out how she could win a Commons majority. It suggests they may try to force the Prime Minister to accept a permanent customs union, like the one being called for by Labour, in exchange for extending Brexit.

Mr Macron said: ‘We would support an extension only if it was justified by a new choice of the British. We would in no way accept an extension without a clear objective.’

All EU leaders must agree if Brexit is to extend beyond March 29. Both sides are negotiating over the Irish backstop to prevent a hard border in Ireland in the event of No Deal.

Mrs May’s spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister is trying to... secure further assurance in relation to the backstop not being indefinite.’