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Brexit news - LIVE: EU leaders unanimously agree to give UK unconditional ‘flextension’ if it approves withdrawal agreement next week

Follow The Independent's live coverage of the day's political events 

Ashley Cowburn
Political Correspondent
,Harry Cockburn
Thursday 21 March 2019 16:00 GMT
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European Council President Donald Tusk tells media that EU leaders agree to delay the Brexit process

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Theresa May’s request to extend triggering Article 50 until the end of June was rejected by the EU, which instead offered a shorter time frame.

Ms May has now accepted the offer of a delay until May 22 if her withdrawal deal is approved by Parliament.

If MPs reject it for a third time, the EU says Britain must propose a new plan by April 12.

The result of this would either be a much longer delay or crashing out of the EU without a deal.

Ms May said she will not support a long delay because it would mean Britain participating in elections for the European Parliament.

Here’s how events unfolded:

Please allow a moment for the liveblog to load

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Ashley Cowburn21 March 2019 14:54
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Ashley Cowburn21 March 2019 15:23
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This is from the European Commission on the general state of the Brexit as Theresa May meets with EU leaders in Brussels.

"We have done our best - Now the solution is in London."

Ashley Cowburn21 March 2019 15:32
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Ashley Cowburn21 March 2019 15:49
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European Parliament president Antonio Tajani told the EU leaders that the parliament "hopes that any extension will be as short as possible, preferably not beyond April 11, the deadline by which the UK must decide whether or not to organise European elections".

He added: "In our view such an extension only makes sense if next week the House of Commons votes in favour of the Brexit agreement.

"If it does not, a short extension would be pointless. In the event, let the UK request an open-ended extension and organise the election of its members of the European Parliament."

Ashley Cowburn21 March 2019 16:09
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Theresa May  "will not countenance" revoking Article 50, after a public petition calling for the Brexit deadline to be cancelled passing one million signatures, her spokeswoman has said.

When asked for the PM's view on the petition, a No 10 spokeswoman said Mrs May worried failing to deliver Brexit would cause "potentially irreparable damage to public trust".

She said: "The prime minister has long been clear that failing to deliver on the referendum result would be a failure of our democracy and something she couldn't countenance.

"The PM has said many times she will not countenance revoking Article 50."

Ashley Cowburn21 March 2019 16:20
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Ashley Cowburn21 March 2019 16:55
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The Put it To The People March, organised by the People's Vote campaign in collaboration with The Independent, has announced the Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon and the former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine will be the keynote speakers at the demonstration on Saturday in central London in support of a fresh referendum.

Ashley Cowburn21 March 2019 17:14
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Ashley Cowburn21 March 2019 17:15
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Anna Soubry has said she is unable to go home this weekend because of death threats made against her.

The Independent Group MP was responding to questions about Theresa May's suggestion that MPs were responsible for the current Brexit crisis. 

Former Tory MP Ms Soubry said:

"I can't go home this weekend, I'm not able to go home this weekend, I am not safe.

"When a senior police officer tells your partner that if it was his wife in the situation that I am in he would say 'I am frightened for her safety' I think that tells you everything.

"I'm not alone in this - I mean Chuka [Umunna] has obviously had death threats, so many of us have had that - but this is the reality of it, that's why the language that politicians and indeed everybody uses, including the media, is so important.

"We are tired of being called traitors. When people use that language the next thing that happens is that I get an email that says 'Traitors get beheaded, that's what should happen to you'."

Benjamin Kentish21 March 2019 17:35

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