Skeptical EU leaders to hear May’s plea for a Brexit delay – By Jill Lawless (AP News) / March 21 2019
BRUSSELS (AP) — Prime Minister Theresa May was trying to persuade European Union leaders on Thursday to delay Brexit by up to three months, with her plans to leave the bloc in chaos just eight days before Britain’s scheduled departure.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left, greets European Council President Donald Tusk during a tripartite social summit at the Europa building in Brussels, Wednesday, March 20, 2019. European Union officials received a letter from British Prime Minister Theresa May requesting a Brexit extension and they hope to have more clarity about her intentions by Thursday. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
May will meet the 27 national other EU leaders in Brussels, a day after she wrote requesting an extension to the Brexit deadline until June 30.
The bloc is weary of Britain’s political soap opera over Brexit. EU Council chief Donald Tusk, who is overseeing the summit, said a short delay should be possible, but only if Britain’s Parliament approves May’s divorce deal with the EU before the scheduled March 29 departure date.
That is a tall order. The deal has twice been rejected twice by hefty margins in Britain’s Parliament, amid opposition from pro-Brexit and pro-EU lawmakers.
May said lawmakers now face a “final choice” between her deal, a no-deal departure that could hammer the economy, and cancelling Brexit.
But the prime minister angered many legislators with a televised speech late Wednesday blaming Parliament for the Brexit impasse.
May told voters weary of a Brexit saga that has dragged on for almost three years: “You want this stage of the Brexit process to be over and done with. I agree. I am on your side.”
She didn’t accept a role in causing the deadlock, but warned that if lawmakers didn’t back her deal it would cause “irreparable damage to public trust.”
Pro-EU Conservative lawmaker Sam Gyimah called May’s comments “toxic.”
“Resorting to the ‘blame game’ as the PM is doing is a low blow,” he said.
But Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said she was simply expressing frustration and tapping into the public’s exasperated mood. Parliament must come to a consensus in a time of national decision, he told the BBC.
“In fairness, what she is actually saying is that we have to implement the results of a democratic referendum,” he said. “That’s the challenge.”
But what remains unclear is exactly what happens next. Hunt said he did not know if May’s Brexit deal will be brought back to Parliament next week, as he warned of “extreme unpredictability” if the issue is not resolved.
Main U.K. opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is also meeting senior EU officials in Brussels, trying to persuade them that Parliament can find an alternative to May’s rejected plan.
“I believe it should be possible to agree a deal with the EU that secures a close economic relationship before the European Parliament elections,” Corbyn said.
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