Boris Johnson asks EU for three-month Brexit extension to deadline
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Boris Johnson has asked the EU for a three-month delay to Brexit, which would extend the Article 50 negotiating period to 31 January 2020.
The request to European Council President Donald Tusk was made in an unsigned letter late on Saturday night.
It came hours after MPs voted to withhold their approval for Johnson’s Brexit deal unless and until he has passed all necessary legislation to implement it.
The prime minister was legally required to request this delay under the so-called “Benn Act”. The legislation was passed by opposition MPs in September to prevent a no-deal Brexit at the end of this month.
On Twitter, Tusk said: “The extension request has just arrived. I will now start consulting EU leaders on how to react.”
Johnson – who has previously said he would rather die in a ditch than delay Brexit again – has rang European leaders to distance himself from the request, describing it as “parliament’s letter, not my letter”.
The government has sent three letters to the EU following Boris Johnson’s embarrassing defeat in the Commons over his Brexit plans.
One was unsigned by the prime minister, and it asks European Council President Donald Tusk for the Brexit deadline to be extended until 11pm on 31 January 2020. Another was written by Sir Tim Barrow, the UK’s permanent representative to the EU. It was addressed to Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen, the secretary-general of the Council of the European Union.
Sir Tim’s message serves as a cover note for the unsigned letter, and explains it is required under the terms of the Benn Act.
And the third also addressed to Donald Tusk, this letter was signed by Johnson – and it is an attempt by the prime minister to distance himself from that legally required request for a Brexit extension.
