Brexit: Tusk urges EU leaders to offer long Brexit delay - as it happened

That’s all from us this evening. Thanks for reading and for all the comments. Here’s a summary of the afternoon’s events:

• MPs backed Theresa May’s plan to ask for a Brexit extension until 30 June 2019. May was forced to bring her proposal to the Commons for a vote by the passage of legislation put forward by Labour’s Yvette Cooper and others. The Commons backed the prime minister by a majority of 310.
• But the president of the EU Council, Donald Tusk, urged EU leaders to offer a much longer extension. Tusk said the UK should be given up to a year to get Brexit sorted, claiming there was little chance of arrangements being made by 30 June. A draft EU Council document suggested such proposals were being drawn up. Labour has said it will back any “reasonable” delay beyond 30 June.
• Some European leaders are uneasy with such a move. France has been outspoken in its belief that a year would be “too long” and EU leaders will want to see a series of commitments from the UK before any such delay is to be agreed.
• Brexit talks between Labour and the Tories are due to resume on Thursday – after the EU Council’s Brexit meeting. Discussions ended on Tuesday with a deal remaining elusive. Labour again accused the prime minister of a lack of willingness to compromise.
• A Tory former minister warned that British MEPs would be a disruptive influence in the European parliament if Brexit was extended. Tim Loughton said the UK will “elect an army of Nigel Farage Mini-Mes who will frankly wreak havoc” if the country participates in EU elections. Senior EU figures have demanded assurances the UK would not disrupt the bloc’s functioning if it stayed as a condition of a delay to Brexit.
• Here’s a summary of the day’s earlier events.

And, if you’d like to read yet more on the Tory infighting, my colleague Rowena Mason has the full story:

It emerged yesterday that the Conservatives were planning to contest the European parliamentary elections and had invited potential MEPs to put themselves forward. One person who will not be doing so, however, is David Bannerman – the Tory MEP for the East of England.

After quite some consideration, I have decided today not to stand again as a Conservative MEP for the East of England if elections are called for 23 May 2019.

I think it would be dishonourable for me personally to stand again as a Conservative MEP in these circumstances, particularly with my strong views on honouring the Brexit result. I am unable to defend the decision to call these elections and the arguments for yet further delay when the British people just want Brexit done.

I strongly believe it is entirely wrong and counterproductive for these elections to be held at all. With nearly three years since the Referendum (of 23 June 2016) the British people are angrily demanding that the result be honoured and Brexit be delivered.

Bannerman has said he would support the prime minister’s deal “only on the basis of getting the UK legally out of the EU”.

Following talks between Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron in Paris, a Downing Street spokesman has said:

The prime minister met with President Macron in Paris this afternoon, ahead of the EU Council meeting tomorrow. Following the prime minister’s letter to Donald Tusk last week, the leaders discussed the UK’s request for an extension of article 50 to 30 June, with the option to bring this forward if a deal is ratified earlier.

The prime minister updated President Macron on the ongoing talks with the [Labour party] to agree a way forward that respects the result of the 2016 referendum.

They also discussed upcoming European parliamentary elections with the PM saying that the government was working very hard to avoid the need for the UK to take part.

The leaders also discussed the ongoing situation in Libya. The PM expressed her deep concern about the recent escalation and said it was important for the international community to work together to bring an end to the violence.

Back in Westminster, the noises emanating from the Labour party in respect of the cross-party Brexit talks remain somewhat downbeat. A spokesperson has said:

We had further detailed and wide-ranging talks with cabinet ministers and officials today.

We have yet to see the clear shift in the government’s position that is needed to secure a compromise agreement.

We have agreed to hold further talks on Thursday in an effort to break the Brexit deadlock, and find a compromise that can win support in Parliament and bring the country together.

The party has repeatedly accused the prime minister of showing insufficient willingness to compromise during the negotiations; something Downing Street has denied.

In reaction, the Liberal Democrat leader, Vince Cable, has said:

The fact that talks seem to have broken down again is not a surprise, since neither side seemed interested in negotiating a compromise because they are more concerned with protecting party political interest.

May and Corbyn must stop avoiding the elephant in the room; only a People’s Vote can secure a cast iron majority.

The prime minister must now chair a cross-party committee, including the Liberal Democrats, SNP, Plaid Cymru, and independent MPs, to agree to a confirmatory referendum on the deal with an option to remain in the EU.

If MPs commit to working together we can pull the UK back from the brink and ensure that the people, not politicians, have the final say on Brexit.

Allied to the previous post, Sky News’ political editor, Faisal Islam, has seen a draft of the European Council’s conclusions that suggests the EU leaders are drawing up plans along the lines defined by Tusk:

The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, has written to EU leaders urging them to offer the UK a flexible extension to the article 50 process of up to one year. That would allow the UK to leave at any point within that period that it decides to do so, he says.

The leaders are due to meet to discuss Brexit on Wednesday and the release of Tusk’s letter coincides with Parliament’s acceptance of Theresa May’s plan to ask for a delay to 30 June this year. But Tusk tells European leaders it is highly unlikely the UK can get a deal signed, sealed and delivered by that date.

And Tusk insists the price of any such deal must be the UK’s acceptance that the withdrawal agreement stays as it is, though he says he would be open to further negotiation on the political declaration – the framework for the future relationship between the bloc and the UK.

Our experience so far, as well as the deep divisions within the House of Commons, give us little reason to believe that the ratification process can be completed by the end of June. In reality, granting such an extension would increase the risk of a rolling series of short extensions and emergency summits, creating new cliff-edge dates. This, in turn, would almost certainly overshadow the business of the EU27 in the months ahead. The continued uncertainty would also be bad for our businesses and citizens. Finally, if we failed to agree on any next extension, there would be a risk of an accidental no-deal Brexit.

He recommends that the European Council discuss alternative arrangements, including a flexible extension that would last “only as long as necessary and no longer than one year, as beyond that date we will need to decide unanimously on some key European projects”.

The flexibility would allow to terminate the extension automatically, as soon as both sides have ratified the withdrawal agreement. The UK would be free to leave whenever it is ready. And the EU27 would avoid repeated Brexit summits. Importantly, a long extension would provide more certainty and predictability by removing the threat of constantly shifting cliff-edge dates. Furthermore, in the event of a continued stalemate, such a longer extension would allow the UK to rethink its Brexit strategy.

The UK would remain a full, if departing, EU member and Tusk acknowledged some concerns among EU27 leaders – notably expressed by the French president, Emmanuel Macron (see 4.29pm) – that that would “pose risks for the functioning” of the bloc.

To address them, we would need to agree on a number of conditions: No re-opening of the withdrawal agreement; no start of the negotiations on the future, except for the political declaration; the UK would have to maintain its sincere cooperation also during this crucial period, in a manner that reflects its situation as a departing member state. We should remember, however, that the United Kingdom will remain a member state with full rights and obligations. And, in any event, the UK can revoke article 50 at any time, as stated by the European Court of Justice.

Finally, Tusk said the EU27 must approach the UK with a fraternal attitude, saying the two “want to remain friends and close partners ... Neither side should be allowed to feel humiliated at any stage in this difficult process”.

May will address the leaders on Wednesday, before the EU27 hold a private meeting to agree their response to her request for a delay to 30 June 2019.

9 Apr 201913.04 EDT

How MPs voted on extending article 50 - Summary and analysis

Andrew Sparrow

This is how the parties divided in the vote on the motion approving the PM’s decision to seek an article 50 extension until 30 June.

For

Labour: 223

Conservatives: 131

SNP: 33

Independents: 17

Lib Dems: 11

Plaid Cymru: 4

Greens: 1

Total: 420

Against

Conservatives: 97

DUP: 9

Labour: 3 (Ronnie Campbell, Stephen Hepburn, Kate Hoey)

Independents: 1 (Frank Field)

Total: 110

And here are some key points that emerge from the figures.

• May won the vote with majority opposition support. Only 31% of her votes - less than a third - came from Conservative MPs. On Brexit you could argue this is the moment when she became a Ramsay MacDonald; heading a national government, but reliant on the votes of another party.

• The Tories split three ways, and fairly evenly, in this division. Some 42% of Tory MPs voted with the government, another 30% voted against, and the rest did not vote.

• In a further sign that government discipline is breaking down, 12 ministers did not vote with the government, including Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, and Liam Fox, the international trade secretary. It is not clear yet how many of these were deliberate abstentions (ie, in defiance of the whip), and how many were approved absences, but it would be unusual to have this many ministers having permission not to vote in a division like this.

• Jeremy Corbyn has kept his party united on this issue. Only three Labour MPs defied the whip to vote with the government.

That’s all from me for today.

My colleague Kevin Rawlinson is now taking over.

Theresa May has won the vote on requesting an article 50 extension until 30 June by 420 votes to 110 - a majority of 310.

0:34

Theresa May has arrived at the Elysee Palace for talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

View image in fullscreen

This is from the BBC’s Brussel correspondent, Adam Fleming.

In the Commons MPs are now voting on the motion to request an article 50 extension.