An extension to Brexit beyond June will only be acceptable to the U.K. if it comes with a get-out clause, U.K. Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay told the BBC’s Today Program.
Speaking ahead of an emergency EU summit to discuss a British request to delay Brexit until June 30, Barclay accepted that EU27 leaders may seek to impose a longer delay. But his comments appear to be an acceptance of the “flextension” idea floated by Council President Donald Tusk last week and discussed by EU27 ambassadors Tuesday evening.
Under that plan, the U.K. could ratify the Withdrawal Agreement during a long extension and formally leave the EU the following month rather than be stuck in the EU for the full extension period.
“I don’t want to see a delay for up to a year,” said Barclay, “But if there were to be an extension beyond the end of June, then it has to be one that is terminable.”
“The key with any delay is that we’re able to terminate it once we ratify … in order that we can then get on and get a deal through parliament, ratify that agreement and leave the EU,” he said.
“The government agreed a deal with the EU, it’s parliament that has forced this on the government” — Stephen Barclay
In truth, Prime Minister Theresa May will likely have little option but to accept what EU leaders offer her at the special European Council summit in Brussels this evening. An act of parliament passed earlier this week puts constraints on her from pursuing a no-deal Brexit, which would probably be the only alternative to accepting the EU’s terms.
Barclay blamed parliament for handing control of Britain’s departure to the EU27. “That’s a consequence of parliament, not the government. The government agreed a deal with the EU, it’s parliament that has forced this on the government,” he said.
“It’s deeply frustrating for those of us who at every opportunity have voted in parliament to leave,” he added.
Barclay said that if current talks with the opposition Labour party on how to break the Brexit blockage failed, the government would “come back to parliament and look at how we then get clarity on a vote.”
“We would have to agree how to make those votes more binding,” he added, noting that previous parliamentary votes on various Brexit options were only indicative.
Barclay also distanced himself from Labour’s preferred option of entering into a customs union with the EU.
“I don’t think a permanent customs union is the best way forward. We have negotiated something that is better, which allows us to have the benefits of a customs union but also to have an independent trade policy,” he said.