Theresa May asks for short Brexit delay while EU plans year-long ‘flextension’

Donald Tusk and Theresa May are at odds over how long Brexit should be delayed for.

The EU Council president is formally telling officials from member countries to endorse a long extension until 31 March 2020.

But in a letter to Mr Tusk, the prime minister has asked to delay Brexit until 30 June 2019 so British MPs can agree a withdrawal deal.

She also revealed the UK will start preparations to hold European parliamentary elections, which are set to take place at the end of May.

Mr Tusk told officials that the only “reasonable” way out of the Brexit deadlock in parliament is to allow another year for talks.

However, the bloc could offer a clause to allow the UK to leave early if a deal is struck.

Speaking to Sky News, an EU source said Mr Tusk told officials: “The only reasonable way out would be a long but flexible extension. I would call it a ‘flextension’.

“How would it work in practice? We could give the UK a year-long extension, automatically terminated once the Withdrawal Agreement has been accepted and ratified by the House of Commons.

“And even if this were not possible, then the UK would still have enough time to rethink its Brexit strategy. Short extension if possible and a long one if necessary.

“It seems to be a good scenario for both sides, as it gives the UK all the necessary flexibility, while avoiding the need to meet every few weeks to further discuss Brexit extensions.”

Requesting a much shorter extension until the end of June, Mrs May wrote: “If the parties are able to ratify before this date, the government proposes that the period should be terminated early.

“The government will want to agree a timetable for ratification that allows the United Kingdom to withdrawal from the European Union before 23 May 2019 and therefore cancel the European parliament elections, but will continue to make responsible preparations to hold the elections should this not prove possible.

“It is frustrating that we have not yet brought this process to a successful and orderly conclusion.”

The letters have sparked anger on both sides of the Channel, with other European leaders and some British MPs unhappy about a potential extension.

Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, said the latest request was “unsurprising but unsatisfactory”.

Mrs Foster said: “Exiting the EU has become chaotic because of intransigence in Brussels and ineffectiveness in London.

“The United Kingdom fighting the European elections almost three years after a clear majority voted to leave the EU sums up the disorganised and slapdash approach taken to negotiations by the prime minister.”

She added that the DUP wants a “sensible deal which protects the union and respects the referendum result” – and warned it was “foolish” from a strategic point of view to take no deal off the table.

Mrs Foster said: “The prime minister should not waste any extension by subcontracting the UK’s future to Jeremy Corbyn.”

According to Reuters, Emmanuel Macron says talks of further extension are “premature” and the French president wants a clear idea of the future plan by Tuesday.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the options to prevent no deal are limited, adding the letter was not enough to give a further extension.

However, Leo Varadkar appeared to back Mr Tusk’s suggestion, saying it would make more sense to offer a longer extension than a rolling one.

Mrs May had to set out future plans to the EU by this week, under the terms given by the bloc for the first Brexit extension, which is set to end at 11pm on 12 April.

The South West of England may have to give formal notice for the European elections by 12 April, as the area includes Gibraltar, whose deadline is that day.

Other regions would have to publish notice by 15 April.

Tom Watson, Labour deputy leader, said the party has opened nominations for candidates for the European elections.

Chuka Umunna, former Labour MP-turned The Independent Group member, confirmed his new group will also be preparing to field candidates in May elections.

He told Sky News: “If you want a people’s vote and ultimately to remain in the EU, we will be the primary choice.

“We have put everything on the line and we believe this is in the national interest.”

Mr Umunna added that his group had compromised and was not taking easy options of ignoring the referendum or simply revoking Article 50.

He said: “In order to hold a people’s vote we need a relatively long extension, so that is better from our point of view.

“We have now had two rounds of voting [indicative votes in the Commons] on each occasion a people’s vote has topped the poll.

“We need to complete that voting, we’ve had group stages and we need the final stages.

“If you [MPs] don’t choose people’s vote you will need to explain to your constituents why you are putting jobs and livelihoods on the line.”

Labour and the Conservatives are continuing their cross-party talks in the hope of coming to a compromise that will pass with a majority in the House of Commons.

However, discussions today have been described as “conversations” rather than “formal sit-down talks”.

Thursday’s technical talks were “productive”, according to a statement released after four-and-a-half hours of negotiations between the party’s frontbenches.

Speaking during a visit to South Wales after Labour’s by-election success, Jeremy Corbyn said: “There’s been no obvious move on the side of the government as of yet, we’re continuing those talks.

“Our position is there has to be a market relationship with Europe, there has to be a customs union, and we have to be able to develop our own policies when we’re in government, particularly competitions policy which I’m concerned about.”

He said leaving the EU without a deal would bring disruption to supply chains and create future problems.

Mr Watson told Sky News: “Parliament is very unhappy with what’s going on and the public is rightly concerned.

“We’ve had 1,000 days of Brexit chaos.

“The sad truth is we were going to end up with crisis talks after the election when Theresa May returned without a majority, but she could have reached out earlier and we might have had a compromise a year or 18 months ago.”

Mr Watson said he was a “reluctant” convert to the idea of a confirmatory ballot, saying it had been parliament’s job to deliver on Brexit, but that it had failed.

He said: “The idea of a ballot is to say ‘sorry, we can’t solve this, take the deal away, look at it and if it works for you, your families and your communities, then fine’.”

Mrs May is to spend the weekend at her country retreat Chequers, where she will continue working on a Brexit compromise.

(c) Sky News 2019: Theresa May asks for short Brexit delay while EU plans year-long ‘flextension’