Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Fresno City Gets Extension in Herndon 4-Story Apartment Case

20 hours ago

With Major Heat Risk Forecast, This Is a Good Weekend to Stay Indoors in Fresno

23 hours ago

Trump Says Intel Has Agreed to Deal for US to Take 10% Equity Stake

23 hours ago

Epstein Associate Maxwell Says She Never Saw Trump Behave Inappropriately

23 hours ago

Pew: US Immigrant Population Declines for First Time in Nearly 60 Years

1 day ago

Powell, Citing Jobs Risk, Opens Door to Cuts but Doesn’t Commit

1 day ago

FBI Agents Search Ex-Trump Adviser Bolton’s Home, Source Says

1 day ago

Gaza City Officially in Famine, With Hunger Spreading, Says Global Hunger Monitor

1 day ago

Gavin Newsom’s Redistricting Plan Is on Its Way to Voters. What You Need to Know

2 days ago
EU Grants Brexit Delay to Jan. 31; UK Ponders New Election
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
October 28, 2019

Share

LONDON — The European Union agreed Monday to delay Brexit by three months until Jan. 31, acting to avert a chaotic U.K. departure just three days before Britain was due to become the first country ever to leave the 28-nation bloc.
The decision was welcomed by politicians in the U.K. and the EU as a temporary respite from Brexit anxiety — but not by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said just weeks ago that he would “rather be dead in a ditch” than postpone the U.K.’s leaving date past Oct. 31.

“It was a very short and efficient and constructive meeting and I am happy the decision has been taken.” — Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator
In the end, the choice was not in his hands. The U.K. Parliament forced Johnson to ask for a delay in order to avoid a no-deal Brexit, which would hurt the economies of both Britain and the EU.
Johnson is now pushing for an early election as a way of breaking the political impasse. He hopes voters will give his Conservative Party a majority, allowing Johnson to push through the divorce deal he struck with the EU and — finally — take Britain out of the bloc.
Lawmakers in the House of Commons were voting later Monday on a government motion calling for a general election on Dec. 12.
Earlier in the day, after a short meeting of diplomats in Brussels, European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted that the EU’s 27 other countries would accept “the UK’s request for a Brexit flextension until 31 January, 2020.” Under the terms of the “flextension,” the U.K. can leave before Jan. 31 if the British and European parliaments both ratify a Brexit divorce agreement — either on Dec. 1 or Jan 1.
“It was a very short and efficient and constructive meeting and I am happy the decision has been taken,” said Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator.

Third Time Brexit Deadline Has Been Changed

There was no immediate response from Johnson, who is bound by law to accept the EU’s terms. But Johnson’s spokesman insisted it was Parliament’s fault, not the prime minister’s, that Johnson had failed to deliver his core promise of an Oct. 31 Brexit.
“We should be leaving on Oct. 31,” said Johnson spokesman James Slack. “He did secure a great new deal, he set out a timetable that would have allowed the U.K. to leave on Oct. 31 with that deal — and Parliament blocked it.”
The delay is the third time the Brexit deadline has been changed since British voters decided in a 2016 referendum to leave the bloc.
Johnson took office in July vowing to “get Brexit done” after his predecessor, Theresa May, resigned in defeat. Parliament had rejected her divorce deal with the bloc three times, and the EU had delayed Britain’s scheduled March 29 departure, first to April, and then to October.
Johnson has faced similar political gridlock, as Parliament blocked his attempt to push through his Brexit deal before the October deadline and made him ask the EU for more time.
The prime minister now wants to shepherd his Brexit withdrawal bill through Parliament before the election, but Johnson’s opponents don’t want to give him that victory. His motion Monday calling for a Dec. 12 vote — more than two years before Britain’s next scheduled election in 2022 — needs the support of two-thirds of lawmakers to pass, and opposition parties are reluctant to hold an election on Johnson’s terms.
Two opposition parties — the Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party — are backing a rival plan for a Dec. 9 election if Johnson’s proposal fails. Johnson’s government has signaled that it will accept that idea if its own motion is defeated.

Photo of Prime Minister Boris Johnson
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, right, reacts with pupils during a visit to Middleton Primary School in Milton Keynes, England, Friday Oct. 25, 2019. European Union ambassadors agreed Friday that the bloc should grant Britain’s request for another extension to the Brexit deadline but have not yet figured out how long that delay should be. (Paul Grover/Pool via AP)

France Initially Reluctant to Extend the Brexit Deadline

Even if there is an early election, it could produce a Parliament as divided over Brexit as the current one. All the political parties in Britain are worried about a backlash from grumpy voters asked to go to the polls at the darkest, coldest time of the year. Britain has not had a December election in almost a century.

“The prime minister can pick up his phone and call Brussels to say: I stop everything.”European Affairs Minister Amelie de Montchalin
European officials, meanwhile, urged Britain not to waste the extra Brexit time.
German government spokesman Steffen Seibert welcomed the Brexit delay, but cautioned Britain to “use the additional time productively.”
Guy Verhofstadt, head of the European Parliament’s Brexit group, wrote on Twitter that “whether the UK’s democratic choice is revoke or an orderly withdraw, confirmed or not in a second referendum, the uncertainty of Brexit has gone on for far too long. This extra time must deliver a way forward.”
France was initially reluctant to extend the Brexit deadline beyond Oct. 31, but European Affairs Minister Amelie de Montchalin said the prospect of a new election in Britain justified the new delay. Montchalin also said it was not too late for Britain to revoke Article 50 of the EU treaty and cancel Brexit — something that Johnson has vowed he will never do.
“The prime minister can pick up his phone and call Brussels to say: I stop everything,” she said.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Hegseth Authorizes Troops in DC to Carry Weapons

DON'T MISS

Texas, Florida Seek to Join Legal Challenge to Abortion Pill

DON'T MISS

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego Released, May Be Detained Again

DON'T MISS

Judge Blocks Trump From Withholding Funds From Los Angeles, Other Sanctuary Cities

DON'T MISS

Lyle Menendez Denied Parole After 35 Years in Prison for Parents’ Shotgun Murders

DON'T MISS

California Cities Lack Unified Response On Homeless Encampments

DON'T MISS

Trump Crime Crackdown Deploys Troops in Washington’s Safest Sites

DON'T MISS

California Voters Still Support High-Speed Rail, Even If It Never Gets Done

DON'T MISS

Turkish First Lady Urges Melania Trump to Speak out on Gaza

DON'T MISS

Fresno Crash Sends Car Into Building After Running Red Light

UP NEXT

California Voters Still Support High-Speed Rail, Even If It Never Gets Done

UP NEXT

Turkish First Lady Urges Melania Trump to Speak out on Gaza

UP NEXT

Pew: US Immigrant Population Declines for First Time in Nearly 60 Years

UP NEXT

Canada to Remove Many Retaliatory Tariffs on US Goods, Says Source

UP NEXT

Gaza City Officially in Famine, With Hunger Spreading, Says Global Hunger Monitor

UP NEXT

More Americans Applying for Refugee Status in Canada, Data Shows

UP NEXT

US Issues More Iran-Related Sanctions

UP NEXT

Netanyahu Says Israel to Begin Gaza Ceasefire Negotiations to End War, Release Hostages

UP NEXT

Israel Bombards Gaza City Ahead of Planned Offensive

UP NEXT

Putin’s Demand to Ukraine: Give up Donbas, No NATO and No Western Troops, Sources Say

Judge Blocks Trump From Withholding Funds From Los Angeles, Other Sanctuary Cities

4 hours ago

Lyle Menendez Denied Parole After 35 Years in Prison for Parents’ Shotgun Murders

4 hours ago

California Cities Lack Unified Response On Homeless Encampments

4 hours ago

Trump Crime Crackdown Deploys Troops in Washington’s Safest Sites

4 hours ago

California Voters Still Support High-Speed Rail, Even If It Never Gets Done

4 hours ago

Turkish First Lady Urges Melania Trump to Speak out on Gaza

4 hours ago

Fresno Crash Sends Car Into Building After Running Red Light

20 hours ago

Fresno City Gets Extension in Herndon 4-Story Apartment Case

20 hours ago

Atwater Prison Inmate Charged for Threatening to Kill Prosecutor’s Family

22 hours ago

Multiple Passengers Are Killed After Bus Crashes in Western New York

22 hours ago

Hegseth Authorizes Troops in DC to Carry Weapons

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has authorized National Guard troops deployed to Washington to bring their weapons with them on ...

2 hours ago

Soldiers with the 30th Armored Combat Brigade from the South Carolina National Guard at Union Station in Washington, Aug. 20, 2025. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has authorized National Guard troops deployed to Washington to bring their weapons with them on their mission. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)
2 hours ago

Hegseth Authorizes Troops in DC to Carry Weapons

A patient prepares to take Mifepristone, the first pill in a medical abortion, at Alamo Women's Clinic in Carbondale, Illinois, U.S., April 9, 2024. (Reuters File)
4 hours ago

Texas, Florida Seek to Join Legal Challenge to Abortion Pill

Kilmar Abrego Garcia walks, after he has been released from the Putnam County Jail in Cookville, Tennessee, U.S., August 22, 2025. (Reuters/Seth Herald)
4 hours ago

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego Released, May Be Detained Again

U.S. flag and Judge gavel are seen in this illustration taken, August 6, 2024. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)
4 hours ago

Judge Blocks Trump From Withholding Funds From Los Angeles, Other Sanctuary Cities

Lyle Menendez attends his Board of Parole hearing online from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California, U.S., August 22, 2025, that could lead to freedom after decades in prison for the 1989 shotgun murders of his parents. The final decision will rest with the governor, who can either accept or reject the board's recommendation. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation/Handout via REUTERS
4 hours ago

Lyle Menendez Denied Parole After 35 Years in Prison for Parents’ Shotgun Murders

4 hours ago

California Cities Lack Unified Response On Homeless Encampments

Members of the Mississippi National Guard eat ice cream and boba tea on the National Mall after U.S. President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard and ordered an increased presence of federal law enforcement to assist in crime prevention, in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 21, 2025. (Reuters/Al Drago)
4 hours ago

Trump Crime Crackdown Deploys Troops in Washington’s Safest Sites

4 hours ago

California Voters Still Support High-Speed Rail, Even If It Never Gets Done

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend