BORIS Johnson will miss his “do or die” Halloween Brexit deadline, which means the UK will stay in the EU until January 31 next year unless Parliament ratifies his deal before then.
EU Council president Donald Tusk yesterday announced it had approved a “flextension” – meaning the UK could leave before the deadline if a deal was approved by Parliament.
“The EU27 has agreed that it will accept the UK’s request for a #Brexit flextension until January 31, 2020. The decision is expected to be formalised through a written procedure,” he tweeted.
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The extension will mean that the UK will be allowed time to have a General Election ahead of Brexit and may leave the EU on the 1st of any month until that date once the withdrawal agreement is ratified by the Commons.
The development was welcomed by those opposed to Brexit in the UK and also by those in the EU who were relieved Britain would not be crashing out of the bloc at 11pm this Thursday without an agreement on its exit terms or framework for future relations.
But the extension underlined a U-turn by Johnson, who won the Tory leadership contest and became PM by pledging – “do or die” – to deliver Brexit on October 31.
Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit co-ordinator, tweeted: “Relieved that finally no one died in a ditch. Whether the UK’s democratic choice is revoke or an orderly withdraw, confirmed or not in a second referendum, the uncertainty of Brexit has gone on for far too long. This extra time must deliver a way forward.”
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Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “Given Boris Johnson has been trying to bypass all scrutiny and accountability to get his extreme Brexit done by Halloween in a timetable he himself described as ‘do or die’, this is a welcome voice of reason from the European Union.
“Now there is time for a disastrous right-wing Brexit to be avoided, but this requires the opposition parties at Westminster to stop squabbling about election dates and come together to stop this minority government and implement a People’s Vote.”
LibDem Brexit spokesperson Tom Brake said: “It is welcome news that a three-month extension has been granted. A No-Deal Brexit would be catastrophic for our NHS, jobs and the environment.
“Boris Johnson’s ‘do-or-die’ deadline has failed. We are still in the EU. The fight is far from over.”
Naomi Smith from the pro-EU Best for Britain group said: “Our friends in Europe have shown extraordinary patience and continue to do so. We thank them for accepting our urgent request for an extension, but we also ask them not to help the Prime Minister rush through the terrible deal he has brought back. Passing such an awful deal without proper scrutiny would hurt both us and the EU.”
Formally speaking, the ambassadors set in train the “written procedure” for approval of decisions by leaders in the absence of a full summit. That will happen after the UK signals its acceptance of the extension, likely to be through its ambassador to the EU, and is expected to be completed without difficulty within 24 hours.
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