British Prime Minister Theresa May warned Sunday that it would be “a potent symbol of Parliament’s collective political failure” if a Brexit delay meant that the U.K. has to take part in May’s European Parliament election — almost three years after Britons voted to leave the bloc.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, May also cautioned that if British lawmakers failed to back her Brexit deal before Thursday’s European Council summit, “we will not leave the EU for many months, if ever.”

“If the proposal were to go back to square one and negotiate a new deal, that would mean a much longer extension … The idea of the British people going to the polls to elect MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) three years after voting to leave the EU hardly bears thinking about,” she wrote.

May is expected to try to win Parliament’s approval of her withdrawal agreement from the EU for the third time this week. After months of political deadlock, lawmakers voted Thursday to seek to postpone Brexit.

That will likely avert a chaotic British withdrawal on the scheduled exit date of March 29 — although the power to approve or reject a Brexit extension lies with the EU. The European Commission has said the bloc would consider any request, “taking into account the reasons for and duration of a possible extension.”

By law, Britain is leaving the EU on March 29 with or without a deal, unless it cancels Brexit or secures a delay.

May is trying to persuade opponents in her Conservative Party and its parliamentary allies to change their minds and support her Brexit withdrawal agreement, which Parliament has already resoundingly defeated twice. If she wins that parliamentary approval, Britain’s departure from the bloc can likely take place with just a “short technical extension” beyond March 29.

Ahead of a third parliamentary vote on Brexit deal, the possibility of Britain’s departure being delayed or overturned in a second referendum appeared to be swinging some Eurosceptic lawmakers reluctantly behind May.

Former Cabinet minister Esther McVey, who resigned over the Brexit agreement, told Sky News on Sunday that she would back May’s deal now because “the choice before us is this deal or no Brexit whatsoever.”

Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Sunday that his party is against May’s Brexit deal — but indicated that Labour would back an amendment that supports the EU divorce deal on condition that it is put to a new referendum.

Corbyn has written to lawmakers across Britain’s political spectrum inviting them for talks to find a cross-party compromise on Brexit.

He also told Sky News that he may propose another no-confidence vote in May’s minority government if her Brexit deal is voted down again.

May’s government was continuing talks with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, whose 10 lawmakers provide the crucial supporting numbers to keep May’s Conservatives in power.

Treasury chief Philip Hammond, who was involved in the negotiations, said they had focused on preventing a regulatory border in the Irish Sea after Brexit.

Related Stories
‹
Britain’s Boris Johnson Resigning as PM Amid Scandal
Written by DANICA KIRKA, JILL LAWLESS and SYLVIA HUI Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation Thursday amid a mass revolt by top members of his government, marking an end to three tumultuous years in power in which he brazenly bent and sometimes broke the rules of British politics. Months of defiance ended almost with […]
Fishing, Northern Ireland: EU, UK Back to Brexit Wrangling
Written by RAF CASERT and JILL LAWLESS It was late on Christmas Eve last year when the European Union and Britain finally clinched a Brexit trade deal after years of wrangling, threats and missed deadlines to seal their divorce. There was hope that now-separated Britain and the 27-nation bloc would sail their relationship toward calmer […]
Northern Ireland Leaders Call for Calm After Night of Violence
Written by PETER MORRISON and JILL LAWLESS Young people set a hijacked bus on fire and hurled gasoline bombs at police in Belfast in at least the fourth night of serious violence in a week in Northern Ireland, where Britain’s exit from the European Union has unsettled an uneasy political balance. People also lobbed bricks, fireworks […]
U.K. Warns of ‘Bumpy’ Post-Brexit Transition Despite Deal
First came the Brexit trade deal. Now comes the red tape and the institutional nitty gritty. Four days after sealing a free trade agreement with the European Union, the British government warned businesses to get ready for disruptions and “bumpy moments” when the new rules take effect on Thursday night. Businesses were scrambling Monday to […]
EU Says That No-Deal Brexit Becoming Ever More Likely
A top European Union official dealing with the United Kingdom said Tuesday that a cliff-edge rupture between the two without even a basic trade deal by the end of the year is becoming more likely by the day. European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic told the European Parliament that “time is short” to reach a […]
Britain Out, EU Centering on Balkans for Enlargement
Down one country with the departure of Britain, the European Union’s executive proposed a new system for adding members in a move made all the more urgent by the recent objections to open enlargement talks with two Western Balkan nations. The European Commission proposed on Wednesday to streamline rules to avoid further delaying the start […]
Johnson Hails ‘New Beginning’ for U.K. as Brexit Day Arrives
Britain begins the day as a member of the European Union. Its status at the end of the day — as a proud nation that has reclaimed its sovereignty, or a diminished presence in Europe and the world — will still be up for debate. Britain officially departs the EU at 11 p.m. local time […]
Brexit Finally Arrives Friday: A Momentous Yet Quiet Moment
Friday will mark a truly historic moment, but almost nothing will happen. A few Union Jack flags will be lowered from European Union buildings in Brussels, more will be waved in jubilation by Brexiteers in London at the moment of Britain’s departure — at 11 p.m. in the U.K., midnight in much of the EU […]
‘Confused And Angry’: Brexit Unsettles E.U. Citizens in the U.K.
Anxious, angry, abandoned. Brexit elicits strong emotions, and as Britain’s departure from the European Union approaches, more than 3 million U.K. residents who are citizens of EU countries are feeling the impending separation more strongly than most. Brexit is a huge economic and social experiment, and the U.K.’s European residents are among the guinea pigs. […]
Queen Lays Out Johnson's Brexit Plans at Parliament Opening
Queen Elizabeth II formally opened a new session of Britain’s Parliament on Thursday with a speech laying out Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plans to use his commanding majority to take the U.K. out of the European Union and shake up the country’s public services. Johnson’s Conservative Party won an 80-strong majority in the 650-seat House […]
›