I won’t delay Brexit beyond June, vows Theresa May

Prime Minister Theresa May has told MPs she is “not prepared to delay Brexit any further than the 30 June”.

The PM has already written to European Council President Donald Tusk to formally request a short, one-off delay to Brexit beyond 29 March.

During a fractious PMQs, she said MPs had “indulged themselves on Europe for too long” and she wanted to avoid the UK taking part in European elections.

The SNP’s Pete Wishart accused her of “caving in to Brexiteers”.

Theresa May

The European Commission is, meanwhile, telling EU leaders that the UK must take part in elections for the European Parliament if it stays in the EU beyond the 23 May.

In a document seen by the BBC, the Commission says: “Any extension offered to the United Kingdom should either last until 23 May 2019 or should be significantly longer and require European elections.

“This is the only way of protecting the functioning of the EU institutions and their ability to take decisions.”

Any delay to Brexit must be agreed by all 27 member states.

PM’s request to EU

In her letter to Mr Tusk, the prime minister says she had wanted to hold a Commons vote on her withdrawal agreement this week but had been prevented from doing so by Commons Speaker John Bercow.

But she adds: “It remains my intention to bring the deal back to the House.”

If the motion is passed, more time will be needed for Parliament to ratify the deal, she says, so she would like to request an extension to Article 50, the legal process taking the UK out of the EU, until 30 June.

There is no mention in the letter of a longer delay, as some had been expecting.

At prime minster’s questions, Mrs May told MPs: “The idea that three years after voting to leave the EU, the people of this country should be asked to elect a new set of MEPs is, I believe, unacceptable.

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