No-deal Brexit day after day more likely: EU's Barnier

London, April 2: The European Union's chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said it is more likely that Britain will crash out of the bloc next week without an orderly withdrawal agreement. He was addressing a think tank today in Brussels after British lawmakers again failed to unite behind an alternative to the Brexit withdrawal agreement Prime Minister Theresa May signed last year.

 

He warned that if May cannot get this withdrawal agreement past the House of Commons, then there are only two other options which are leaving without an agreement or requesting a longer extension of the Article 50 period. Barnier added that such an extension would not automatically be granted by the other 27 EU leaders when they meet at an April 10 emergency summit.

On the other hand, United Kingdom lawmakers on Monday once again failed to find a majority on any alternative Brexit plan before them, 10 days before Britain’s departure from the European Union.

The European Union has set an April 12 deadline for the United Kingdom to either agree to the divorce terms that Prime Minister Theresa May has struck with the bloc, figure out an alternative or leave the bloc without a deal.

March 29 was the original date for Brexit, but the Parliament has repeatedly failed to decide on the terms of the exit. Last week, May had offered to resign if the deal passed in a bid to win over rebels in her Conservative Party.