Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

As it happenedended

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
Comments
European Council President Donald Tusk tells media that EU leaders agree to delay the Brexit process

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

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

Theresa May rules out revoking Article 50 and cancelling Brexit after saying she is still working to leave the EU with a deal

Harry.Cockburn21 March 2019 23:19

Asked about the petition to cancel Brexit which has now received 2 million signatures, Ms May does not directly respond, but says she believes the government must honour the results of the 2016 referendum

Here is The Independent's story about the petition:

Harry.Cockburn21 March 2019 23:28

Harry.Cockburn21 March 2019 23:36

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in