Britain on path to 2020 Brexit as EU rejects Theresa May’s bid for short delay
- European Council president Donald Tusk to meet other leaders on Wednesday to discuss how long to extend Britain’s EU membership
- Possible delay until end of December or March 2020 could spell ‘game over’ for British PM
British Prime Minister Theresa May’s request for a short Brexit delay has been torn up, putting the EU on track to instead extend Britain’s membership until 2020.
Despite May’s desperate dash to Paris and Berlin to convince leaders of her plan to break the Brexit impasse, European Council president Donald Tusk signalled EU politicians’ lack of faith in her cross-party talks.
Against a backdrop of growing support among the EU27 for a lengthy Brexit delay, Tusk picked apart May’s appeal for a shorter delay to 30 June in a letter to the leaders inviting them to Wednesday’s summit, where they will agree to a new end date.
A European Union diplomat said on Tuesday, following a late-night meeting of ambassadors, that the two end dates crystallising in EU capitals were the end of December or the end of March 2020.
In the light of this development, a cabinet source voiced doubts over whether May could survive after presiding over such a long delay to Brexit, after previously having said she could not “as prime minister” accept a longer delay than 30 June.
The source said some in No 10 now accept it is nearly game over and described all options as very difficult for the prime minister, raising questions about whether she can keep her warring party together much longer.