Donald Tusk says EU leaders have agreed to 31 January Brexit extension
3 min read
European leaders have agreed to hand Britain a three-month extension to the Brexit deadline, Donald Tusk has confirmed.
The EU Council president said allowing the UK to stay in the bloc until 31 January 2020 would be formalised by the 27 leaders through a “written procedure”, rather than an emergency summit.
The so-called "flextension" would give Boris Johnson the option of quitting the EU earlier however, if MPs ratified his Brexit agreement ahead of the new deadline.
Mr Johnson was forced to ask for the extension under the terms of the Benn Act preventing a no-deal Brexit.
Confirmation of the latest Brexit delay means the PM has broken his vow to take the UK out of the EU "do or die" on 31 October.
In a tweet, Mr Tusk said: "The EU27 has agreed that it will accept the UK's request for a #Brexit flextension until 31 January 2020. The decision is expected to be formalised through a written procedure."
French President Emmanuel Macron had been pushing for a two-week extension in an attempt to put pressure on MPs to pass Mr Johnson's Brexit deal.
The move could also ramp up pressure on Labour to back the Prime Minister’s push for a 12 December general election later on Monday, in a bid to break the Brexit deadlock.
Jeremy Corbyn’s party has said that while he backs an election, he would not order his MPs to back it until the prospect of crashing out without an agreement is “off the table”.
Under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act (FTPA), Mr Johnson requires a two-thirds Commons majority, 434 MPs, to trigger a snap poll.
Following Mr Tusk’s announcement, Liberal Democrat 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’ 31st October Brexit 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."
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