NEW BREXIT DEADLINE EU GIVES MAY TILL OCTOBER

Theresa May accept many people’s huge frustration over the delay . European Union leaders gave Britain six more months to leave the bloc, more than Prime Minister Theresa May says she needs but less than many in the bloc wanted, thanks to fierce resistance from France.

The summit deal in Brussels in the early hours of Thursday meant Britain will not crash out on Friday without a treaty to smooth its passage. But it offers little clarity on when, how or even if Brexit will happen, as May struggles to build support in parliament for withdrawal terms agreed with the EU last year.

With German Chancellor Angela Merkel insisting that Britain would not be forced out and that a chaotic no-deal departure must be avoided if at all possible, there was never any real doubt that May would get an extension.

The drama was about its length and conditions.

French President Emmanuel Macron, reprising a role he took last month when May got a first, two-week delay, pushed leaders into hours of debate over dinner as he fought a largely solo campaign to persuade them not to give the British up to another year.

Summit chair Donald Tusk and others argued that obliging May to accept a much longer deadline than the June 30 date she had sought could help swing pro-Brexit hardliners within her own Conservative party behind her deal, fearing a long delay could see the British public turning against a withdrawal altogether.

But Macron, while irritating some peers who saw his stance as Gallic grandstanding, insisted that letting Britain stay in the Union any longer risked undermining the project of European integration that is one of his main policy goals.

The result was a compromise on the date, with a deadline of Oct. 31, for Britain to leave, deal or no deal — on condition that May holds an election on May 23 to return British members to a new European Parliament that convenes in July, and that it pledge not to disrupt key EU decision-making before it leaves.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said: "There will probably be a European election in the UK - that might seem a bit odd, but rules are rules and we must respect European law and then we will see what happens."

If May fails to win over lawmakers on the treaty or fails to hold an election, Britain will leave with no deal on June 1.

The prime minister was keen to stress that the extension to Oct. 31 — and several leaders refused to rule out further delays — did not mean she would not deliver Brexit sooner and before, as she promised her rebellious party, she steps down.

“I know that there is huge frustration from many people that I had to request this extension,” she told reporters, as her team prepared for another round of talks on Thursday with the Labour opposition, to whom May turned for help last week.

“But the choices we now face are stark and the timetable is clear. So we must now press on at pace with our efforts to reach consensus on a deal that is in the national interest,” she added, acknowledging the coming weeks would not be easy.

WHAT WAS AGREED?

A Brexit extension "only as long as necessary" and "no longer than 31 October" to allow for the ratification of the withdrawal agreement

The UK "must hold the elections to the European Parliament" and if it fails to do this, the UK will leave on 1 June

The European Council reiterates there can be no reopening of the withdrawal agreement negotiations.

News source : Reuters & BBC