Theresa May is today expected to write to European Union chiefs setting out her proposal for a short delay Brexit just days before Britain is scheduled to leave the bloc.
In a letter to European Council president Donald Tusk, the prime minister is thought likely to suggest a three-month extension to June 30 in the hope of securing parliamentary approval for her Withdrawal Agreement by that time.
With pressure mounting on the PM, Brussels has said it needs to know “the reason and the usefulness” of any UK request before deciding whether to grant the request.
The ultimatum from Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, came as May will dispatch her letter exactly 1,000 days after the referendum of June 23, 2016, which delivered a 52%-48% majority for leaving the EU.
In any case, a delay beyond the scheduled date of March 29 needs the approval of all 27 remaining member states at a summit in Brussels on Thursday.
Confirming a short extension will be requested, a Number 10 source said: “PM won’t be asking for a long extension.
“There is a case for giving parliament a bit more time to agree a way forward, but the people of this country have been waiting nearly three years now.
“They are fed up with parliament’s failure to take a decision and the PM shares their frustration.”
Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said the UK would need to provide a “very persuasive plan” to support any request for a long extension to the Article 50 negotiation process.
If the EU agrees an extension, Brexit will be delayed by the passage of a statutory instrument through both Houses of Parliament removing the date of March 29 from the legislation.
MPs will be given an opportunity in the House of Commons on Monday to debate how the process should go forward.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn indicated that this will be the point to “challenge the government”, adding: “Surely that is the time to step aside and let the people decide in a people’s vote that’s called a general election.”
At a meeting of Cabinet in Downing Street, May voiced her “absolute determination” that MPs should have another chance to vote on her Brexit deal, despite the bombshell intervention of the Commons Speaker.
John Bercow provoked uproar at Westminster on Monday when he ruled that the Government cannot bring the Prime Minister’s deal back for a third “meaningful vote” without substantial changes.
But May told Cabinet she wanted MPs to have another vote “as soon as possible”.
Nevertheless, there was said to be concern among some ministers that Brexit appeared to be slipping away.
The Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom is understood to have told the meeting: “This used to be the Cabinet that would deliver Brexit and now from what I’m hearing it’s not.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Brexit was in a state of “flux” and that EU leaders will “try to react” to whatever Mrs May proposes on Thursday.
Merkel appeared bemused by Bercow’s decision to block a fresh vote on the basis of a convention dating back to 1604, saying: “I’ll concede that I wasn’t actively aware of the British Parliament’s rules of procedure from the 17th century, so I took note of this with interest yesterday.”
Downing Street confirmed discussions were continuing with the Democratic Unionist Party, which props up the Government at Westminster, in an effort to build support for the deal after last week’s 149-vote defeat.
And May held talks on Brexit with former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, one of the most strident critics of her withdrawal agreement.
Meanwhile, Tony Blair has said May should use any extension to EU withdrawal talks to allow parliament the chance to decide what kind of Brexit it wants,
The former prime minister said that a no-deal Brexit was no longer an option and that the question of a second referendum was “for a later time”.
He called for a delay of nine to 12 months to give parliament to decide whether it wants “soft Brexit, hard Brexit or no Brexit”, with or without a second referendum.
Blair denied that he had been urging European leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron to “stand firm” on Brexit in the hope of the UK giving up on it.
But he said he had discussed reforms to free movement rules that the EU could consider adopting if Britain thinks again and decides to stay.