British PM gets two-week Brexit reprieve from EU

European Union leaders have agreed to move Brexit beyond March 29 deadline and asked British Prime Minister Theresa May to get an approval of the UK parliament on her split deal with the bloc.

The Prime Minister said at a news conference overnight on Friday that Brussels agreed to move the deadline to May 22 if British MPs back a withdrawal agreement next week that they rejected twice earlier.

May insisted she could secure a deal next week, saying British MPs have a “clear choice”.

“What this decision tonight does is show the clear choice that is open to MPs,” she said. “I think the choice is clear for people.”

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Despite a joint warning from business and trade union leaders that the economic disruptions of a no-deal Brexit would present a national emergency, May had refused to rule out walking away.

This came in just days after the speaker of the House of Commons blocked her proposal to hold a third vote on the deal, citing 400-year-old precedent that says the same proposition cannot be put to MPs again and again.

French President Emmanuel Macron has however led the charge, calling for Britain to put up or shut up on Brexit.

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