Politics

Brexit: Barnier says extending article 50 again to help UK would pose 'significant risks' to EU – live news


Good morning. As the Brexit crisis deepens, Theresa May is just starting to chair what is scheduled to be a five-hour cabinet, where ministers will discuss what can be done to avert a looming no-deal Brexit on Friday week.

As my colleague Daniel Boffey reports, in Brussels Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, has said that no-deal is becoming “day after day more likely”.

Barnier said that, if the Commons did not vote for the withdrawal agreement within the next few days, only two options would remain: “Leaving without an agreement or requesting a longer extension of the article 50 period.”

On Friday May hinted that, if she could not get her deal through parliament, her preference would be to go for a longish article 50 extension, requiring the UK to take part in the European elections.

But this morning Barnier insisted that the EU would need a “strong justification” for such a move. EU leaders are due to discuss what happens next at a summit a week tomorrow, and Barnier’s comments implied that they might refuse another delay to Brexit. He said:


The UK may ask for another extension. Such an extension would carry significant risks for the EU. Therefore a strong justification would be needed.

He said that businesses in the EU had warned Brussels “against the cost of extending uncertainty”. The UK prolonging its status as a member state while still seeking to leave with a negotiated deal “could pose a risk on our decision-making autonomy”, he added.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9am: Theresa May chairs a five-hour cabinet meeting. The first three hours will be a three-hour political cabinet. Then, after lunch, a normal cabinet is due to run until 3pm.

11.30am: Foreign Office questions in the Commons.

After 12.30pm: MPs debate a report admonishing Dominic Cummings, campaign director of Vote Leave, for contempt of parliament because he refused to give evidence to a Commons inquiry into “fake news” and disinformation.

As usual, I will also be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web, but I expect to be focusing mostly on Brexit. I plan to post a summary at lunchtime and another when I wrap up in the afternoon.

You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe round-up of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads.

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