Brexit: EU ready to grant flextension but split on delay length

The EU appears split over the length of a delay and Donald Tusk may call an emergency summit.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the debate for the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill. Picture: AP

The European Union is leaning towards offering Britain a Brexit “flextension’’ as any hopes of an October 31 departure fade.

But member states appear split over the length of an extension and European Council president Donald Tusk could call an emergency summit of leaders on Friday to make a decision.

The Westminster deadlock over the progress of the Brexit bill also raged in London despite a crisis meeting between prime minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The leaders’ talks broke down without any agreement and there is now a focus on whether Labour will support Mr Johnson’s desire to call a general election.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Jeremy Corbyn reiterated Labour’s offer to the prime minister to agree a reasonable timetable to debate, scrutinise and amend the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, and restated that Labour will support a general election when the threat of a no-deal crash-out is off the table.”

But a Tory source told The Telegraph UK Mr Corbyn “has no policy except more delays and to spend 2020 having referendums.”

Mr Johnson is keen to have a snap election to be held either on November 28 or early December, but Mr Corbyn is under pressure from his executive to delay agreeing to any poll.

This comes as a YouGov poll shows 50 percent of the public want a general election to break the impasse with 23 percent opposed. Nearly two thirds of Conservative voters want a fresh election, and Labour voters are also much more likely to prefer an election than not (48% vs 25%).

Under the EU flextension idea, there would be a final deadline but the UK would be able to leave the EU earlier as soon as it can break the parliamentary impasse, pass the Brexit bill and have it ratified by the European Parliament.

The Irish deputy Simon Coveney said: “From the Irish government’s perspective we are supportive of facilitating an extension. I think that extension will be a flexible one that will allow the United Kingdom to leave the EU, if they can get a deal done, well in advance of the end of that extension period, which looks like it might be the end of January.’’

Mr Tusk tweeted that he had informed Mr Johnson of his reasons for backing a three month extension, despite the prime minister’s strong objections to any extension.

“In my phone call with PM Boris Johnson I gave reasons why I’m recommending the EU27 accept the UK request for an extension”, Mr Tusk wrote.

In my phone call with PM @BorisJohnson I gave reasons why I’m recommending the EU27 accept the UK request for an extension.

— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) October 23, 2019

EU poised to grant extension

The EU is poised to grant a Brexit extension, with the length of the delay likely to have an ­immediate impact in determining whether the British public will go to the polls.

European Council president Donald Tusk has been liaising with leaders Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel about British parliamentary deadlock over Brexit. Leaders of the 27 EU countries will write a letter to Mr Tusk almost certainly giving approval for a Brexit delay, possibly as long as three months.

If there is a long delay, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will most likely support a general election that Prime Minister Boris Johnson desperately wants but has failed to secure on two occasions.

The moves come after MPs on Tuesday derailed Mr Johnson’s plan to rush a deal through the Commons.

Although MPs approved the deal, they rejected his timetable for departing the EU by 322 to 308 in a defeat that threatens to doom Mr Johnson’s “do or die” pledge to leave by October 31.

Mr Johnson said that he would seek to hold a general election rather than accept a delay lasting “months”. Speaking before he was defeated on the legislative timetable, Mr Johnson warned: “If parliament refuses to allow Brexit to happen and instead gets its way and ­decides to delay until January, or possibly longer, in no circumstances can the government contin­ue with this.

“The bill will have to be pulled and we will have to go forward to a general election. I will argue at that election, ‘Let’s get Brexit done’. The people will ­decide.”

After the vote, however, Mr Johnson said only that he would “pause” the legislation and left the door open for a short extension to allow the bill to complete its parliamentary stages.

A No 10 source said: “Today parliament blew its last chance,” and added that the only way the country could move on was with an election.

It was not clear, however, how Mr Johnson could trigger a poll, given the decision requires a two-thirds ­majority.

Mr Corbyn has said he would agree to an elect­ion as soon as a Brexit delay was settled.

Tuesday’s defeat (Wednesday AEDT) came hard on the heels of a “joyful” victory for the Prime Minister as the bill that would turn his Brexit plan into law — the withdrawal agreement bill — cleared its first hurdle by 329 votes to 299. Mr Johnson agreed his plan with EU leaders last week. He lost his vote on the timetable after failing to win over former­ Tory MPs, including Philip Hammond, Ken Clarke and Rory Stewart.

They raised concerns that without an automatic extension of the transition period, due to end in December next year, Britain could still leave without a deal.

“Nobody thought that we could secure the approval of the house for a new deal. We should not overlook the significance of this moment,” Mr Johnson said, ­adding that he was disappointed that MPs had rejected his proposed timetable.

“Until they reach a decision we will pause this legislation. Our policy is not to delay and to leave on October 31 and that is what I will say to the EU.

“One way or other we will leave with the deal that this house has given its assent.’’

Labour is not going to agree to a general election until it feels the immediate threat of a no-deal Brexit is off the table and there is a strong Labour view that the government’s inability to control the timetable of Brexit is preferable to an election rout. Polls show the Conservatives about 15 points ahead of Labour.

Behind the scenes Mr Corbyn has been pressing his executive to agree to an election because of public anger about the parliamentary gridlock that risks Labour support sliding even further.

Following the parliamentary vote against the legislative timetable, Mr Corbyn said: “The house has refused to be bounced into debati­ng a hugely significant piece of legislation in just two days with barely any notice or an analysis of the economic impact of this bill.”

Additional reporting: The Times