THERESA May has said that it was "a matter of great personal regret for me" that Brexit will not go ahead on March 29.
In a televised address from 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister attempted to appeal to voters, saying: "I am on your side."
She blamed MPs for failing to agree a means to implement the result of the 2016 referendum and said she believes voters just want this stage of the Brexit process to be over.
"Of this, I am absolutely sure: You the public have had enough. You are tired of the infighting, you're tired of the political games and the arcane procedural rows, tired of MPs talking about nothing else but Brexit when you have real concerns about our children's schools, our National Health Service, knife crime,” May said.
"You want this stage of the Brexit process to be over and done with.
"I agree. I am on your side. It is now time for MPs to decide."
Her address concluded another disastrous day for the Prime Minister. She began fighting off fierce criticism at Prime Minister’s Questions.
The former attorney general said May’s address in the Commons earlier in the day had left him ashamed to be a member of the Tory Party.
Dominic Grieve escribed the Prime minister’s performance at the dispatch box in the Commons as “the worst moment I have experienced since I came into the House of Commons".
Grieve said: “I have never felt more ashamed to be a member of the Conservative Party of to be asked to lend her support.
“She spent most of her time castigating the house for its misconduct. At no time did she consider that it might be her misconduct which is contributing to this situation.”
WATCH: MP says Theresa May makes him ‘ashamed’ to be a Tory in astonishing speech
She then wrote to EU Council president Donald Tusk to request an extension of Article 50 until June 30.
Tusk said he believed a short delay "would be possible" after he spoke to the Prime Minister following her formal request for an extension of the Article 50 withdrawal process to the end of June.
However, France, Spain and Belgium are thought to be ready to veto any move to extend Article 50.
READ MORE: Brexit: France, Spain and Belgium ready to veto Article 50 extension
The PM made the request in a letter to Tusk exactly 1000 days after the 2016 referendum which delivered a 52%-48% majority to quit the EU.
Later, Downing Street declined to comment on reports that the PM would be making a statement to the nation but Irish premier Leo Vardakar let the cat out of the bag.
Speaking in Dublin, he said: "That will be an opportunity for her to set out her plan, her timeline, as to how an extension would work."
"We always said we'd be open to an extension if there was a purpose to it and I think it's important that we hear from her first and we'll respond as 27, as the European Union, in the next couple of days."
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