British Prime Minister Theresa May offered the House of Commons on February 26 the chance to delay Brexit by extending Article 50 – the provision in the Treaty of the European Union that allows a member to unilaterally quit the bloc – to a date beyond the original March 29 deadline if she fails to pass the Withdrawal Agreement on March 12.
“Let me be clear, I do not want to see Article 50 extended,” May said.
The March 12 vote for the Withdrawal Agreement will be followed by a vote for the delay of Article 50 on March 13. The delay would be for no more than two months as May’s government does not intend for the UK to take part in the European elections scheduled for May.
May did not take a ‘no deal’ scenario off the table in her most recent comments, but, instead, said that a“no deal” would only come if there was “explicit consent in the House of Commons for that outcome.”
The statement by the prime minister was designed to quell a backbencher’s revolt. The leader of the opposition, Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, invited May to put the Withdrawal Agreement to the test of a ‘confirmatory’ public vote in what would essentially be a second referendum on EU membership.