Theresa May announced that she would ask for ANOTHER extension of Article 50 at Downing Street.

The Prime Minister told the nation that she would again ask the European Council for a further delay to allow more talks, votes and discussions about Brexit to take place.

She also announced during the brief statement that she hopes to sit down with the opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn , in the hope of breaking the Brexit deadlock in parliament.

Mrs May said that if they could not agree a deal they would present Parliament with a number of options to vote on.

She then said that her government would back any outcome that was voted for.

The announcements came after seven hour long talks involving the PM's cabinet.

According to Mirror Online, The crisis talks were due to start with a three hour political Cabinet meeting from 9am, and after lunch, a two-hour Cabinet meeting from 1pm to 3pm.

But the meeting went on until past 5pm - and Ministers were reportedly under orders not to leave Number 10 until after her speech.

International Development Minister Penny Mordaunt was seen leaving Number 10 via the Cabinet Office, bypassing the waiting cars on Downing Street.

But it's understood she was leaving to go to a meeting. </s> British Prime Minister Theresa May has addressed the United Kingdom — again — after hosting an epic seven hours of government meetings Tuesday and told the nation she intends to delay Brexit again to get her deal agreed by Parliament, or else open the door for a softer Brexit.

The podium moment at 10 Downing Street — merely the latest in a line of addresses direct to the nation by the Prime Minister — came the evening after the second failed attempt by Parliament to seize control of the Brexit process from the government. Rather than indicating what direction they intended to take, Parliament instead voted against every option but before them for a second time.

The Prime Minister chaired two cabinet meetings for over seven hours today in search of a way through the so-called “logjam”, and it was speculated by members of the Westminster bubble that the outcome could lead to a deviation from the plan. This could have meant a softening of Brexit to appease the overwhelmingly pro-Remain Parliament, or accepting a no-deal Brexit next week just to get it over and done with.

As it was, the result seems to have been exactly what the Prime Minister has been doing since day one — more of the same. Inviting the leader of the opposition to talks which she made clear would have to end up with him coming to accept her Brexit ‘deal’, May said she was going to be delaying Brexit yet again to give herself more time to get the deal agreed.

Crucially, the Prime Minister said if there was no agreement she would allow Parliament to vote on what option they want, which the government would then “stand by”. Given the overwhelmingly pro-Remain character of the House of Commons — much in contrast to the wider country which voted for Britain to leave the European Union in 2016 — this would almost certainly mean a much softer Brexit than even the ‘deal’ the Prime Minister was given by the EU.

Listening live to Prime Minister May’s speech, Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage told LBC listeners, “That was the prime minister basically saying that we need national unity to deliver the national interest.

“We need leadership and my view is what we got from that statement was yet more fudge.”

“That statement from the prime minister takes us no farther further whatsoever and maybe takes us even deeper into crisis because it’s all dependant upon her withdrawal treaty and amended political declaration passing and it may have taken us no further forward at all,” he said.

UPDATE 1910 — Will it be enough?

May handing over power to Corbyn and the Commons is not enough to please arch Europhiles like Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable who used the crisis to call for another referendum. He said:

The British people voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, and as pointed out by Brexiteers, the country could have left then, or very shortly afterwards. However, the Brexit can — so loathed by the British political establishment as it was — has been kicked down the road endlessly since. How has this happened?
• Then British Prime Minister David Cameron who gave the country the EU membership referendum in an attempt to shut down the debate over Europe for another generation was so horrified at having accidentally lost, despite spending millions of pounds on sending a government booklet to every home in the country on why voters should do as they were told, immediately resigns office. This effectively leaves the country without a leader, and hence unable to leave the European Union.
• Theresa May becomes Prime Minister in July 2016 but waits until March 2017 to actually trigger the Brexit process known as Article 50.
• This creates a two year negotiation period until the technical Brexit day on March 29th 2019, followed by a long period of indeterminate length where actual Brexit — the so-called ‘future relationship’ — is negotiated. Even if this period had gone to plan, the United Kingdom wouldn’t have been free from the European Union until the early 2020s, in all probability.
• The March 29th date, even after two years of negotiations, was still too soon for Theresa May, however, so it was delayed until April 12th 2019. This was to give the government just a little more time to do what it had failed to do in the preceding two years.
• Now the Prime Minister wants to delay again, claiming she’d go for a delay “that is as short as possible”. It is not clear whether this will be possible, however, as the European Union itself has to permit any delay and has already said that any more time now would have to be in the years, not months.
• What does all this mean? Key Brexiteer Nigel Farage already warned that one delay to the legal Brexit date would lead to it being delayed again and again — he has now been proven right by the Prime Minister. He has also said that any attempt to delay Brexit is merely cancelling Brexit in disguise. Will he be proven correct there, as well?

The politicos are, of course, ready with instant reaction. One of the first out of the blocks was Nick Boles, the former Conservative who walked away from the party yesterday evening because Theresa May wasn’t killing Brexit fast enough. The fact he’s welcoming May’s comments tonight probably tells Brexiteers all they need to know about the dangerous new direction May is taking the country — away from the democratically expressed will of the British people:

Brexiteer Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns has called the announcement a “Further national frustration while the PM kicks the Brexit can down the road,” criticising the prime minister for working “closely with the opposition” which wants a softer Brexit and a second referendum.

Brexit campaign group Leave Means Leave warns that May’s plans will lead to a “Brexit betrayal,” writing, “The government and both parties promised to leave the EU, the Single Market, and the Customs Union. All of the options being presented, including the PM’s Withdrawal Agreement, lead to this commitment being overturned and a Brexit betrayal.”

I have just come from chairing seven hours of cabinet meetings focussed on finding a route out of the current impasse. One that will deliver the Brexit the British people voted for, and allow us to move on and begin bringing our divided country back together. I know there are some who are so fed up with delay and endless arguments that they would like to leave with no deal next week. I’ve always been clear that we could make a success of no deal in the long term, but leaving with a deal is the best solution. So we will need a further extension of article 50, one that is as short as possible, and one that will end when we pass a deal. And we need to be clear about what such an extension is for, to ensure we leave in a timely and orderly way. This debate, this division cannot drag on much longer. It is putting members of parliament and everyone else under enormous pressure, and it is doing damage to our politics. Despite the best efforts of MPs, the process that the House of Commons has tried to lead has not come up with an answer. So today I am taking action to break the logjam. I am offering to sit down with the leader of the opposition and to try to agree a plan that we would both stick to, to ensure we leave the European Union and we do so with a deal. Any plan would have to agree the current withdrawal agreement. It has already been negotiated with the 27 other members, and the EU has repeatedly said that it cannot and will not be reopened. What we need to focus on is out future relationship with the EU. The ideal outcome of this process would be to agree an approach on a future relationship which delivers on the result of the referendum, that both the leader of the opposition and I could put to the House for approval, and that I could then take to next week’s European Council. However, if we cannot agree on a single unified approach, then we would instead agree to a number of options for the future relationship which we could pout to the house in a series of votes to determine which course to pursue. Crucially, the government stands ready to stand by the decision of the house. But to make this process work, the opposition would need to agree to this too. The government would then bring forth the withdrawal agreement bill. We would want to agree a timetable for this bill to ensure it is passed before the 27th of May, so that the United Kingdom need not take part in European Parliamentary elections. This is a difficult time for everyone, passions are running high on all sides of the argument. But we can and must find the compromises that will deliver what the British people voted for. This is a decisive moment in the story of these Islands. And it requires national unity to deliver the national interest. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption May on Brexit extension: "The UK should have left the EU by now"

European Union leaders have granted the UK a six-month extension to Brexit, after late-night talks in Brussels.

The new deadline - 31 October - averts the prospect of the UK having to leave the EU without a deal on Friday, as MPs are still deadlocked over a deal.

European Council President Donald Tusk said his "message to British friends" was "please do not waste this time".

Theresa May, who had wanted a shorter delay, said the UK would still aim to leave the EU as soon as possible.

The UK must now hold European elections in May, or leave on 1 June without a deal.

The prime minister will later make a statement on the Brussels summit to the House of Commons, while talks with the Labour Party, aimed at reaching consensus on how to handle Brexit, are set to continue.

Mrs May tweeted: "The choices we now face are stark and the timetable is clear. So we must now press on at pace with our efforts to reach a consensus on a deal that is in the national interest."

So far, MPs have rejected the withdrawal agreement Mrs May reached with other European leaders last year and they have voted against leaving the EU without a deal.

The EU has ruled out any renegotiation of the withdrawal agreement.

Before the summit, Mrs May had told leaders she wanted to move the UK's exit date from this Friday to 30 June, with the option of leaving earlier if Parliament ratified her agreement.

What is the reaction in the UK?

For Labour, shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer called the delay to 31 October "a good thing", saying businesses would be "relieved".

He added: "Negotiations are in good faith. We all feel a deep sense of duty to break the impasse.

"But there's also this question of how on Earth do we ensure that anything this prime minister promises is actually delivered in the future because of course she's already said she's going to step down, probably within months."

One government minister told BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg the latest delay to Brexit could mean a Conservative Party leadership contest after Easter, with a new prime minister potentially in place by June.

Former Brexit Secretary David Davis said: "There's been no progress whatsoever, really."

He added that it was still "difficult to see how" Mrs May could get her deal with the EU through Parliament and said: "The pressure on her to go will increase dramatically now, I suspect."

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted her "relief" that the UK wouldn't be "crashing out" on Friday, adding that "allowing people to decide if they still want to leave is now imperative".

What was agreed?

A Brexit extension "only as long as necessary" and "no longer than 31 October" to allow for the ratification of the withdrawal agreement

The UK "must hold the elections to the European Parliament" and if it fails to do this, the UK will leave on 1 June

The European Council reiterates there can be no reopening of the withdrawal agreement negotiations

What was the EU's message?

Donald Tusk emerged from the talks - and a subsequent meeting with Mrs May - to address reporters at a news conference at 02:15 local time (01:15 BST).

"The course of action will be entirely in the UK's hands," he said. "They can still ratify the withdrawal agreement, in which case the extension can be terminated."

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Tusk on Brexit extension: "Please do not waste this time"

Mr Tusk said the UK could also rethink its strategy or choose to "cancel Brexit altogether".

He added: "Let me finish with a message to our British friends: This extension is as flexible as I expected, and a little bit shorter than I expected, but it's still enough to find the best possible solution. Please do not waste this time."

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said: "There will probably be a European election in the UK - that might seem a bit odd, but rules are rules and we must respect European law and then we will see what happens."

What did Theresa May say?

Mrs May spoke at 02:45 local time (01:45 BST). She said that, although the delay extends until 31 October, the UK can leave before then if MPs pass her withdrawal deal.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption BBC's Adam Fleming explains how the EU agreed a Brexit delay.

"I know that there is huge frustration from many people that I had to request this extension," she said. "The UK should have left the EU by now and I sincerely regret the fact that I have not yet been able to persuade Parliament to approve a deal."

She added: "I do not pretend the next few weeks will be easy, or there is a simple way to break the deadlock in Parliament. But we have a duty as politicians to find a way to fulfil the democratic decision of the referendum, deliver Brexit and move our country forward. Nothing is more pressing or more vital."

The PM said the UK would "continue to hold full membership rights and obligations [of the EU]" during the delay.

Trick or treat? Halloween deadline is both

You couldn't quite make it up. The new Brexit deadline is, you guessed it, Halloween.

So to get all the terrible metaphors about horror shows, ghosts and ghouls out of the way right now, let's consider straight away some of the reasons why this decision is a treat in one sense, but could be a trick too.

A treat? First and most importantly, the EU has agreed to put the brakes on. We will not leave tomorrow without a deal.

The prime minister's acceptance that leaving the EU without a formal arrangement in place could be a disaster won out.

And there are quite a few potential tricks. This new October deadline might not solve very much at all.

This could, although I hate to say it, just make way for months of extra gridlock before the UK and the EU find themselves back here in a similar situation in the autumn.

Read Laura's blog here

How did the EU leaders decide?

The EU had been split over the length of delay to offer the UK, and by law its other 27 member states had to reach a unanimous decision.

Although other countries backed a longer delay, French President Emmanuel Macron pushed for a shorter extension. He called the 31 October deadline "a good solution".

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption German Chancellor Angela Merkel had argued for a longer delay

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, said the extension gave the UK time "to come to a cross-party agreement".

Risk of no-deal postponed

Fudge and can-kicking are the EU-familiar words that spring to mind at the end of this Brexit summit.

After all the drama and speculation leading up to the meeting, effectively all that happened here is that the threat of a no-deal Brexit has been postponed for another six months.

Time enough for the EU to hold European parliamentary elections, choose a new president of the European Commission and pass a new budget - without EU leaders having to keep one eye at least on the day-to-day dramas in the House of Commons.

Despite EU leaders' rhetoric beforehand, they granted this extension without hearing a convincing plan of Brexit action from Theresa May.

In the summit conclusions there is no evidence of the punitive safeguards mooted to ensure the UK "behaves itself" - refraining from blocking EU decisions - as long as it remains a club member.

Yes, EU leaders worry about who might replace Theresa May as prime minister. Yes, they're concerned these six months could fly past with the UK as divided as ever but their message to the UK tonight was: "We've done our bit. Now you do yours. It's up to you. Please use the time well." </s> Theresa May will trigger EU withdrawal talks under Article 50 on March 29, Downing Street has announced.

The Prime Minister's letter officially notifying the European Council of the UK's intention to quit will set in train a two-year negotiation process expected to lead to Britain leaving the EU on March 29 2019.

Britain's ambassador to the EU, Sir Tim Barrow, informed the office of European Council president Donald Tusk on Monday morning of the Prime Minister's plans.

The announcement means that Mrs May will meet her self-imposed deadline of the end of March to get the withdrawal process under way.

She was cleared to take the step when the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act gained royal assent last week, after a Supreme Court ruling forced her to seek the approval of both Houses of Parliament.

Mrs May will address MPs in a statement to the House of Commons following her regular weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions on March 29.

Mr Tusk has previously said he expects to release an initial response to the Article 50 notification within 48 hours, and an extraordinary summit of the remaining 27 EU member states is due to be called within four to six weeks.

That summit will draw up a mandate for the European Commission's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, probably allowing talks to begin in earnest in May.

Notification of the historic step will come in the form of a letter from the Prime Minister to Mr Tusk, though Downing Street did not make clear whether this would be a physical letter handed to the European Council president by a UK representative or might be sent electronically.

It will be the first time that the provisions of Article 50 - which sets out the process for any EU member state "to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements" - have been activated.

Notification comes 279 days after the referendum of June 23 last year delivered a 52%-48% majority in favour of withdrawal.

Mrs May, who was visiting Swansea on Monday, is expected to conduct visits in all four nations of the UK before notification takes place.

The PM's official spokesman said: "Earlier this morning, the UK Permanent Representative to the EU informed the office of Donald Tusk that it is the UK's intention to trigger Article 50 on March 29.

"There will be a letter. She will notify President Tusk in writing. The Prime Minister will give a statement to Parliament as well.

"We have always been clear that we will trigger by the end of March and we have met that timetable."

The spokesman said Britain wanted to start withdrawal negotiations "promptly", but accepts that "it is right that the 27 have a chance to agree their position" before talks start. </s> Prime Minister Theresa May said Tuesday she would ask the EU to delay Brexit again to avoid Britain crashing out of the bloc next week, signalling she could accept a closer relationship with Europe to break months of political deadlock.

After more than seven hours of talks with her ministers, May said she would request a delay that was “as short as possible and which ends when we pass a deal” through the British parliament.

In a move which enraged the Brexit-supporting wing of her Conservative Party, she also offered to work with the leader of the main opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, who favours closer ties with the European Union.

“This is a decisive moment in the story of these islands. And it requires national unity to deliver the national interest,” May said in a televised address.

Corbyn responded saying he was “very happy” to meet.

READ ALSO: Theresa May To Make Statement After Brexit Cabinet Talks

Brussels has set Britain an April 12 deadline to pass the divorce deal it agreed with May four months ago, settle on an alternative, or leave the EU without an agreement.

In reality, the deadline is even closer as the EU has called an emergency leaders’ summit for April 10.

EU president Donald Tusk responded cautiously to May’s statement, saying: “Even if, after today, we don’t know what the end result will be, let us be patient.”

Britain voted by 52 to 48 per cent to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum. However, the exit process has only exacerbated divisions among the public and politicians, including May’s cabinet.

Her statement follows weeks of turmoil.

MPs have rejected May’s divorce deal three times, but after seizing control of the process, were unable to come up with their own plan.

May said she was “taking action to break the logjam”.

She noted calls in her own party for Britain simply to end its 46-year-old membership of the bloc without any agreement with the EU, but she said that “leaving with a deal is the best solution”.

May said she believed her existing deal was still necessary for an orderly Brexit, but offered to talk to Labour about a new plan for future trade ties.

Corbyn has called for a new customs union with the EU and close alignment to the bloc’s single market, two things that until now, May has strongly opposed.

“I recognise my responsibility,” Corbyn said, stressing that the most important issue was “to make sure we don’t crash out of the EU next week with no deal”.

Corbyn said any new proposals could be voted on by parliament “early next week”.

If May and Corbyn could agree on a plan that MPs supported, the prime minister said she hoped to take it to the April 10 Brussels summit.

If not, she promised to allow MPs to direct what she does, expressing hope that Britain could still leave with a deal before May 22, so it did not have to take part in European Parliament elections.

The political chaos has already forced May to ask the EU to postpone the original Brexit date of March 29, but European leaders have warned they will not delay Brexit indefinitely.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that while he was “open” to a lengthy delay on certain conditions, it was “neither certainty nor automatic”.

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, warned that the other 27 EU nations were prepared for a “no deal” situation, and “it becomes day after day more likely”.

The EU has repeatedly refused to renegotiate the Brexit divorce deal it agreed with May last November after almost two years of negotiations but has said it could revise the accompanying political declaration on future relations.

“What we need to focus on is our future relationship with the EU,” May said of her talks with Corbyn.

Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson said it was “very disappointing” that Corbyn was being given a key role in the Brexit process.

Jacob Rees-Mogg MP suggested the Labour leader could undermine the referendum.

“Getting the support of a known Marxist is not likely to instil confidence in Conservatives,” he said. </s> EU leaders were locked in discussions over proposals to postpone Brexit, after a proposed new date of May 22 came under challenge at a Brussels summit.

A draft communique presented to the leaders of the 27 remaining member-states suggested an extension to the withdrawal process to the eve of European Parliament elections, conditional on MPs approving Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

But a meeting to finalise the offer dragged on long after its scheduled conclusion, amid reports that the text was being torn up and rewritten.

Unconfirmed reports suggested that an alternative date of May 7 – two days before a planned summit in Romania to celebrate the “renewal” of the EU – was under consideration, with a possible extension to the end of the year if the UK takes part in European Parliament elections.

The proposed May 22 date was five weeks short of the June 30 date requested by the British Prime Minister and would present her with a race against time to complete legislation needed for an orderly UK withdrawal.

Mrs May made the case for a June 30 extension in a 90-minute presentation to the EU27, before leaving them to discuss their response in her absence.

But the president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, told the leaders that MEPs do not want any extension to run beyond April 11, which is the last possible date for the UK to announce its participation in the elections.

The draft communique suggested that an extension could stretch beyond the May 23-26 European elections only if the UK takes part.

“Given that the UK does not intend to hold elections to the European Parliament, no extension is possible beyond that date,” said the draft. British Prime Minister Theresa May is greeted with a kiss on the cheek by president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

The communique also suggested the EU would formally adopt two documents agreed by Mrs May with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in Strasbourg last week, with the intention of reassuring MPs that the controversial backstop will not be permanent.

As she arrived in Brussels for what was slated to be the UK’s final EU summit as a member of the bloc, the British Prime Minister said she “sincerely hopes” Britain will be able to leave with a deal.

But several leaders warned that if MPs turn down her Withdrawal Agreement for a third time, the UK could be heading for a no-deal Brexit on March 29.

French president Emmanuel Macron said only a short “technical” extension was on offer and if MPs reject the agreement “it will guide everybody to a no-deal for sure”.

Describing the UK as being in “political crisis”, Mr Macron said: “There needs to be a profound political change if there is to be an extension which is anything other than technical.”

Luxembourg’s prime minister Xavier Bettel said: “At the moment, there are more non-options on the table than options… I sometimes have the feeling that we are in the waiting room, a bit like Waiting for Godot. But Godot never came so I hope this time they will come.”

Italian PM Giuseppe Conte said: “We think a short delay could be useful. We need to wait for a new vote in the British Parliament.”

Mrs May was coming under intense pressure after a poor reception from some of her own MPs to her Downing Street statement on Wednesday, when she blamed MPs for failing to implement the result of the 2016 EU referendum and told frustrated voters “I am on your side”.

The televised message was described as a “low blow” by former minister Sam Gyimah.

But Number 10 defended her comments, saying they had been intended as a “message to the public” to explain why she had decided to seek an extension to the Article 50 withdrawal process.

And she put the spotlight back on MPs as she arrived in Brussels, saying: “What is important is that Parliament delivers on the result of the referendum and that we deliver Brexit for the British people. I sincerely hope that we can do that with a deal.”

She added: “What matters is that we recognise that Brexit is the decision of the British people – we need to deliver on that.

“We’re nearly three years on from the original vote – it is now the time for Parliament to decide.” Sir Keir Stammer and Jeremy Corbyn arrive in Brussels ahead of a meeting with Michel Barnier (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Jeremy Corbyn held what he described as “very constructive discussions” in Brussels with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and European Commission secretary general Martin Selmayr, which he said had focused on the means to prevent a no-deal Brexit next Friday.

The Labour leader twice declined to rule out the option of halting Brexit by revoking the Article 50 letter informing Brussels of Britain’s intention to quit, though a party spokesman later said revocation was “not in any way necessary”.

Mrs May met European Council president Donald Tusk and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar for one-on-one talks ahead of her presentation.

With fears in Brussels growing that the UK is heading for a no-deal break, Mr Tusk said he would not hesitate to call an emergency summit next week if that proved necessary.

German chancellor Angela Merkel also said she will work “until the last hour” to try and ensure that Britain does not leave the European Union without a deal.

Speaking to German MPs ahead of the summit, Mrs Merkel stressed “the most important emergency measures” are in place in her country to handle no-deal, but she still hopes to avoid a crisis.

She added: “We will, despite these measures we have taken, work until the last day – I will say until the last hour – to ensure that this emergency planning doesn’t come into effect.

“We will do everything in the remaining, admittedly few, days to achieve an orderly, joint solution.” Theresa May speaks with the media as she arrives in Brussels (Olivier Matthys/AP)

Mrs May formally made the request for an extension to the end of June in a letter to Mr Tusk on Wednesday.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Britain would be faced with three options if Mrs May’s deal is defeated again next week: revoke Article 50; leave without a deal; or, he said, a longer extension could be granted at an emergency EU summit, but with “onerous conditions”.

“The choice that we have now is one of resolving this issue or extreme unpredictability,” he warned.

Mr Hunt sought to defend the British Prime Minister’s statement, saying she was under “extraordinary pressure” and feels a “sense of frustration” – and said MPs have a “special responsibility” in a hung Parliament.

“She is absolutely determined to deliver what people voted for and I think… the Brexit process has sapped our national confidence and we need to remember now what we’re capable of as a country.”

A No 10 spokeswoman acknowledged Mrs May is facing some “extraordinarily difficult challenges”, but said she is working “tirelessly” to get her deal “over the line”. </s> A demonstrator wearing a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May protests against the UK's triggering of Article 50, outside the Houses of Parliament in central London yesterday. Pic/AFP

London: British Prime Minister Theresa May filed formal Brexit divorce papers yesterday, pitching the UK into the unknown and triggering years of uncertain negotiations that will test the cohesion of the European Union.

Nine months after Britons voted to leave, May notified EU Council President Donald Tusk through a hand-delivered letter that the UK is quitting the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty.



The front pages of UK daily newspapers reporting on the Brexit launch. Pic/AFP

The PM, an initial opponent of Brexit who won the top job in the political turmoil that followed the referendum vote, now has two years to settle the terms of the divorce before it comes into effect in late March 2019.

"The United Kingdom is leaving the European Union," May told lawmakers in the British Parliament. "This is a historic moment from which there can be no turning back."

May has one of the toughest jobs of any recent British PM: holding Britain together in the face of renewed Scottish independence demands, while conducting arduous talks with 27 other EU states on finance, trade, security and other complex issues.

For the EU, already reeling from successive crises over debt and refugees, the loss of Britain is the biggest blow yet to 60 years of efforts to forge European unity in the wake of two devastating world wars. Its leaders say they do not want to punish Britain. But with nationalist, anti-EU parties on the rise across Europe, they cannot afford to give London generous terms that might encourage other member states to break away.

Donald Tusk, European Council President

'We already miss you. Thank you and goodbye.'

Sigmar Gabriel, Foreign Minister, Germany

'The negotiations will surely not be easy for either side. Bad feelings are understandable. But this can't be the basis for defining our future relationship.'

Ford Motor Company, US carmaker 

'Any deal must include securing tariff-free trade with the wider Customs Union and not just the EU27, whilst retaining access to the best talent and resources.' </s> U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May To Step Down June 7

Updated at 5:49 a.m. ET

Theresa May will step down as prime minister of the United Kingdom on June 7, she said Friday at No. 10 Downing St.

She came to the job in 2016 after U.K. voters backed plans to exit the European Union in a referendum. For the following three years, she attempted to navigate the difficult and complex process of making that happen.

"I feel as certain today as I did three years ago that in a democracy, if you give people a choice, you have a duty to implement what they decide," she said. "I have done my best to do that."

But she encountered ongoing opposition in the British Parliament, which repeatedly rejected her proposals to withdraw the U.K. from the EU.

"I believe it was right to persevere, even when the odds against success seemed high," May said Friday. "But it is now clear to me that it is in the best interest of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort. So I am today announcing that I will resign as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party on Friday the 7th of June so that a successor can be chosen."

May said the process for electing a new leader "should begin in the following week."

She said she informed the queen that she will continue to serve as prime minister until the process is completed. Reports from Reuters say that process could take six weeks, with May serving as a so-called caretaker prime minister.

"It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit. It will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honors the result of the referendum," May said.

Lawmakers in her Conservative Party had been pressuring her to resign and let a new leader see through the U.K.'s laborious planned withdrawal from the European Union.

On Thursday, May delayed plans to publish her latest bill to officially withdraw the U.K. from the EU. Parliament had already rejected May's earlier agreements negotiated with the EU three times this year.

Her latest withdrawal bill "tried to win over various interest groups by offering something for everyone: strengthened workers' rights to please the Labour left, an option for MPs to vote for a second referendum to entice Remainers," according to The Economist, which said the prime minister instead "ended up alienating them all."

There would have been "overwhelming pressure" for a no-confidence vote in May's leadership if she had not agreed on a departure date, Conservative lawmaker Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said earlier.

Adding to the pressure, the U.K. voted in European Parliament elections on Thursday, and the Conservatives are expected to do poorly when results are announced Sunday. A new Brexit Party, led by Brexiteer Nigel Farage, was leading polls.

President Trump is set to visit the U.K. from June 3-5. May had not wanted Trump's visit and D-Day anniversary celebrations "to be undermined by the unseemly spectacle of Tory MPs and ministers scrabbling and scrambling to replace her," according to ITV's Robert Peston.

Boris Johnson, a former foreign secretary, is seen as the current front-runner to take May's place. Johnson was a leader of the Brexit campaign in 2016.

In March, May offered to quit if Parliament were to pass her Brexit plan, but even that wasn't enough.

In April, the EU agreed to extend the U.K.'s deadline for passing a Brexit deal until Oct. 31. </s> London, United Kingdom - With the clock counting down to Britain's scheduled departure from the European Union, UK legislators have voted down embattled Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal for a second time this year.

A second so-called "meaningful vote" on Tuesday ended with another heavy defeat for the prime minister, with 391 MPs voting against and 242 supporting the deal.

The last time May put the agreement to parliament, in January, she again suffered a major defeat as the deal agreed with the EU over 18 months of painstaking negotiations was defeated by a margin of 230.

This time it was 149.

Tuesday's vote came just 24 hours after May made a last-minute dash to Strasbourg for a meeting with Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission. Two documents were published as a result of the meeting, which May said would deliver the legally-binding changes to the withdrawal agreement MPs had asked for.

But it soon became clear that those changes would not be enough to win the vote.

"We recognise that the prime minister has made limited progress in her discussions with the European Union. However in our view sufficient progress has not been achieved at this time," said a spokesperson for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), May's ally in Northern Ireland.

May had been tasked with securing changes to the so-called "backstop" protocol of the withdrawal agreement, which critics in the hardline wing of her ruling Conservative Party and the DUP say would trap the UK within the EU's trade rules indefinitely, or see Northern Ireland being treated differently from the rest of the country.

They asked for either a time limit on the backstop, or a unilateral exit clause for the UK.

The attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, published his legal opinion on the new documents saying that they did not fully eliminate the risk of the UK getting stuck in the backstop. When questioned by MPs on his statement, he did say, however, that the documents contain provisions to ensure a "significant reduction in that risk".

What happens now?

May promised to hold two more votes in the coming days. The first, on Wednesday, will see MPs decide on whether to rule out a no-deal Brexit, 16 days before the UK's scheduled departure from the bloc on March 29.

If legislators opt against departing without an agreement on future relations, the government will hold another vote the following day on whether to request an extension to Article 50 - the exit clause in the EU's constitution - from Brussels in a bid to buy more time as it seeks to strike a different divorce deal.

Such an extension could be short-term or long-term. The latter however, would mean the UK taking part in the European Parliament elections on May 23-26, a scenario the prime minister wants to avoid.

A longer extension could also create the momentum for a second referendum campaign, particularly now that the main opposition Labour party supports it.

"I profoundly regret the decision this house has taken tonight," May said in a speech after Tuesday's vote, adding that extending a departure from the EU would not solve the UK's current political impasse.

"The EU will want to know what the house wishes to do with an extension. Does it wish to revoke Article 50? Does it wish to hold a second referendum? Or does it want to leave with a deal but not this deal? These are unenviable choices, but thanks to the decision that the house has made this evening, they are choices that must now be faced."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the result meant May's plan for leaving the EU was "dead" and called on the government to adopt his proposals for an alternative departure from the bloc.

The EU has said no other terms of withdrawal are available to the UK other than the deal brokered with May during months of fractious back-and-forth negotiations, however.

A spokesperson for European Council President Donald Tusk said the second rejection of the agreed withdrawal plan "significantly increased" the risk of a "no-deal" divorce.

"Should there be a UK reasoned request for an extension, the EU27 will consider it and decide by unanimity," the spokesperson added, citing the 27 members of the bloc minus the UK.

The EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, meanwhile, said the bloc had done "everything it can to help get the Withdrawal Agreement over the line".

"The impasse can only be solved in the UK. Our 'no-deal' preparations are now more important than ever before," Barnier said in a tweet.

The EU would have to sign off any decision made this week at the next EU council summit on March 21-22.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May gives a speech after seven hours of continuous meetings, saying that a further extension to the withdrawal from the European Union is needed, and asking for talks with Jeremy Corbyn.