EU leaders open to Brexit delay, but May faces storm

BRUSSELS: European Union leaders meeting in

Brussels

said Thursday they were likely to grant Britain a Brexit delay if the UK government can win parliamentary support next week for its EU divorce deal, though it may be shorter than the June 30 date the UK has asked for.

Across the Channel, however, there were few signs that Prime Minister

Theresa May

’s unpopular Brexit deal was gaining in popularity among British lawmakers.

May angered many with a televised speech late Wednesday, blaming a divided Parliament for an impasse that has left Britain eight days away from crashing out of the bloc with no divorce deal. One lawmaker slammed her remarks “toxic.’’

As she arrived in Brussels to lobby her European partners to extend the Brexit date from March 29 until June 30, May did not rule out taking Britain out of the EU with no deal if the divorce agreement she reached with the EU in November is rejected again by British lawmakers.

Businesses and economists say a no-deal Brexit would cause huge disruptions to the economies of both Britain and the EU. “What matters is that we recognize that Brexit is the decision of the British people. We need to deliver on that,’’ May said. “I sincerely hope that will be with a negotiated deal.’’

Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29 unless the bloc grants an extension. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that among the 27 other EU leaders “there is an openness to an (Brexit) extension across the board.’’ “Nobody wants no deal here,’’ Varadkar told reporters.

Lithuania

’s president, Dalia Grybauskaite, said it was likely “we will grant (an extension), but what exact timing, that’s still under discussion.’’ She said the bloc would likely set a late-May deadline _“or (a) long extension, and in that case the UK will have to organize elections.’’

She said the key problem was the May 23-26 European Union elections. Britain so far has no plans to take part in the vote because it hopes to leave the bloc before the new parliament is in session.

May’s deal has been roundly rejected twice by the UK Parliament, and EU leaders want evidence that May can convince lawmakers to change their minds next week.

That looked more uncertain after her speech Wednesday in which May told a Brexit-weary public: “You want this stage of the Brexit process to be over and done with. I agree. I am on your side.’’

May accused lawmakers of ‘infighting’, ‘political games’ and ‘arcane procedural rows,’ but acknowledged no personal role in creating the political impasse. Many UK legislators, including some from her own Conservative Party, condemned the tone of her speech.

But foreign secretary

Jeremy Hunt

said May was tapping into the public’s exasperated mood. May’s opponents, and EU officials, say her refusal to budge on her rejected deal is pushing Britain to the brink of a catastrophic no-deal scenario.