The Brexit date could be pushed back by a couple of weeks to give time for legislation to be approved by members of parliament, the leader of Britain’s lower house of parliament Andrea Leadsom said.
Britain, the world’s fifth largest economy, is due to leave the European Union on March 29 but Prime Minister Theresa May’s negotiated exit deal was rejected by MPs, leaving open the possibility of a disorderly Brexit, reports Reuters.
Parliament will now vote on a series of amendments on Tuesday with the United Kingdom facing its deepest political crisis in half a century as it grapples with how, or even whether, to exit the European project it joined in 1973.
“We can get the legislation through and I think we do, in spite of everything, have a very strong relationship with our EU friends and neighbours and I am absolutely certain that if we needed a couple of extra weeks or something then that would be feasible,” Andrea Leadsom said.
Responding to the idea that this would mean extending the two-year Article 50 negotiation period, Leadsom, who is the organiser of government business in the lower house of parliament, said:
“It doesn’t necessarily mean that. I think we would want to think carefully about it. But as things stand I do feel that we can get, with the support of both Houses - the House of Commons and the House of Lords - with goodwill and a determination we can still get the legislation through in good time.”
A spokeswoman at May’s No. 10 Downing Street office said the government’s position had not changed.
“We are not considering an extension to article 50 and are committed to doing whatever it takes to have the statute books ready for when we leave the EU on March 29th this year.”
The uncertainty has prompted several businesses to warn of the threat to jobs and investment if Britain were to crash out of the EU, potentially disrupting food and medicine supplies, manufacturers and transportation.
