Theresa May warns parliament is ‘laughing stock’ as paralysis continues

Theresa May admits parliament has become a “laughing stock” over Brexit, as EU warns it won’t automatically grant a delay.

Theresa May has warned her cabinet they are a laughing stock among voters. Picture: Getty Images.

Theresa May has told her government that parliament had become a “laughing stock” over Brexit, as the chief EU Brexit negotiator warned the bloc wouldn’t automatically grant an extension.

The British Prime Minister was ambushed by John Bercow, the Speaker of the House on Tuesday (AEDT), when he torpedoed her plans for a third vote on her withdrawal bill, scuppering her hopes of pressuring MPs into voting the deal in at the last minute.

As she prepared to go to the EU to ask for a delay of at least three months, Mrs May told her cabinet: “If we don’t deliver Brexit people will never forgive them,” adding that voters regarded parliament as a “laughing stock.”

Mrs May is expected to write to EU leaders on today or tomorrow to ask for a short extension of three months, until June 30.

However Michel Barnier, the bloc’s chief Brexit negotiator, said a long extension “must be linked to something new, a new event, or a new political process.”

“The real question is, what is the purpose of it. What is it for?” Mr Barnier said in Brussels.

“To get out of this uncertainty, we need choices and decision from the United Kingdom.”

The deadlock over Brexit has left plans to leave the EU by March 29 (March 30 AEDT) in limbo, with a very real possibility of crashing out of Europe next week without a deal.

Some Brexiteers are hoping to persuade EU leaders to veto any delay. All 27 member states have to agree an extension to the March 29 deadline but the UK Telegraph reports that hardlline Brexiteers have met with senior figures in several European governments in a bid to ensure the UK leaves the bloc next week.

The EU is frustrated with Britain’s political paralysis, and says it will only grant an extension if MPs break their deadlock and come up with new proposals.

“If there is no decision, the date of March 29 comes and then it’s a ‘no-deal,”’ French European affairs minister Nathalie Loiseau said. “For the British to decide nothing is to decide on a ‘no-deal.”’

Andrea Leadsom, the Commons leader, accused some of her cabinet colleagues of being more concerned with avoiding a no-deal exit than delivering the result of the 2016 referendum.

“This used to be the cabinet that would deliver Brexit and now from what I’m hearing it’s not,” Mrs Leadsom said towards the end of the meeting with Mrs May.

Stephen Barclay, the Brexit Secretary, suggested that ministers will continue to press on with Theresa May’s Brexit deal despite Mr Bercow’s intervention, telling Sky News the deal is still “the only deal on the table.”.

“The EU is clear it is the only deal on the table. Business need the certainty of this deal and it is time that parliament comes together and gets behind it,” he said.

Germany’s European affairs minister, Michael Roth, said he expected “clear and precise proposals” from Britain.

“We are really exhausted by these negotiations,” Mr Roth said at an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels before the leaders’ summit later this week.