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Theresa May could announce Brexit delay upon return from EU leaders' meeting, minister hints

Remarks come amid suggestions Downing Street is considering a two-month extension to Article 50 negotiating period

Political Correspondent

Monday 25 February 2019 09:40 GMT

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Theresa May rules out possibility of meaningful vote before March after arriving at EU summit in Sharm el Sheikh

Theresa May could announce a delay to Brexit upon her return from an EU leaders' gathering in Egypt, a government minister has hinted.

The remarks from Tobias Ellwood follow Ms May's decision not to hold a second vote on her deal this week and reports suggested a two-month extension of Article 50 is being considered by Downing Street officials.

Asked if the prime minister could announce an Article 50 extension after her return from talks with other EU leaders in Egypt, the defence minister said: "You need to wait and hear what she has to say when she gets back.

"That, I don't know. I'm encouraging that to happen because it's not in anybody's interest to see no deal."

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Ellwood also on Eurosceptic MPs in the European Research Group (ERG) to "fall in line" to help Ms May secure a deal.

The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

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1/8The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Post-Brexit immigration

workers sorting radishes on a production line at a farm in Norfolk. One possible post-Brexit immigration scheme could struggle to channel workers towards less attractive roles - while another may heighten the risk of labour exploitation, a new report warns.

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The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Customs union

A key point in the negotiations remains Britain's access to, or withdrawal from, the EU customs union. Since the referendum there has been hot debate over the meaning of Brexit: would it entail a full withdrawal from the existing agreement, known as hard Brexit, or the soft version in which we would remain part of a common customs area for most goods, as Turkey does? No 10 has so far insisted that “Brexit means Brexit” and that Britain will be leaving the customs union, but may be inclined to change its position once the potential risks to the UK’s economic outlook become clearer.

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The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Northern Ireland-Irish border

Though progress was made last year, there has still been no solid agreement on whether there should be a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. To ensure borderless travel on the island, the countries must be in regulatory alignment and therefore adhere to the same rules as the customs union. In December, the Conservative Party’s coalition partners, the DUP, refused a draft agreement that would place the UK/EU border in the Irish Sea due to its potential to undermine the union. May has promised that would not be the case and has suggested that a “specific solution” would need to be found.

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The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Transition period

Despite protests from a small number of Conservative MPs, the Government and the EU are largely in agreement that a transitional period is needed after Brexit. The talks, however, have reached an impasse. Though May has agreed that the UK will continue to contribute to the EU budget until 2021, the PM wants to be able to select which laws made during this time the UK will have to adhere to. Chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said the UK must adopt all of the laws passed during the transition, without any input from British ministers or MEPs.

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The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Rights of EU citizens living the UK

The Prime Minister has promised EU citizens already living in the UK the right to live and work here after Brexit, but the rights of those who arrive after Brexit day remains unclear. May insists that those who arrive during the transition period should not be allowed to stay, whereas the EU believe the cut-off point should be later.

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The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Future trade agreement (with the EU)

Despite this being a key issue in negotiations, the Government has yet to lay out exactly what it wants from a trade deal with the EU. Infighting within the Cabinet has prevented a solid position from being reached, with some MPs content that "no deal is better than a bad deal" while others rally behind single market access. The EU has already confirmed that access to the single market would be impossible without the UK remaining in the customs union.

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The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Future trade agreements (internationally)

The Government has already begun trying to woo foreign leaders into prospective trade agreements, with various high profile state visits to China, India and Canada for May, and the now infamous invitation to US President Donald Trump to visit London. However the UK cannot make trade agreements with another country while it is still a member of the EU, and the potential loss of trade with the world's major powers is a source of anxiety for the PM. The EU has said the UK cannot secure trade deals during the transition period.

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The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU

Financial services

Banks in the UK will be hit hard regardless of the Brexit outcome. The EU has refused to give British banks passporting rights to trade within the EU, dashing hopes of a special City deal. However according to new reports Germany has suggested allowing trade on the condition that the UK continues paying into the EU budget even after the transition period.

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"She has done her utmost to appease the ERG," he said. "The referendum itself was done with them in mind, the Article 50 letter was sent with them in mind, the motions have been delayed and written with the ERG in mind.

"It's now important for them to fall in line. We would not be having this conversation about no deal if it wasn't for the fact that, I'm afraid, there's been a bloc voice in our party that has hindered the Prime Minister getting this across the line.

"She may get the necessary concessions and legal agreements concerning the backstop, but, ultimately, the clock is ticking down. If we cannot get this deal across the line, we are facing the prospect of having to extend."

During the first day of the EU and Arab League summit in Egypt, the prime minister insisted a vote will be held on her deal before 12 March and said it was "still within our grasp" to leave the EU on 29 March - a remarkably lukewarm assessment given Ms May's previous statements on the UK's exit date.

But according to the Daily Telegraph one of the options being considered by Downing Street in order to avoid a no-deal scenario, includes requesting a short extension of the Article 50 negotiating period if the prime minister fails to achieve MPs' backing for head deal by 12 March.

And on Wednesday, Ms May will also face a challenge from backbenchers spearheaded by the Labour MP Yvette Cooper which also seeks a extension of the negotiating period if a second meaningful vote fails.

Ms Cooper BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The Government doesn't feel to me to be behaving like a responsible government at all at the moment. The idea that we could be only a few weeks from Brexit and we still don't know what kind of Brexit we are going to have and we're not even going to have a vote on it until two weeks before that final deadline.

"I don't see how businesses can plan, I don't see how public services can plan and I think it's just deeply damaging."

She denied that her proposal was designed to stop Brexit: "The bill doesn't revoke Article 50, it doesn't block Brexit, it doesn't solve the big decisions that Parliament still has to take and that the Government still has to take."

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