May plans next move in Brexit fight as chances rise of delay

Associated Press

LONDON

As Prime Minister Theresa May prepared her next move in Britain’s deadlocked Brexit battle, a senior opposition politician said Sunday that it’s unlikely the U.K. will leave the European Union as scheduled March 29.

A government minister, however, warned that failure to deliver on Brexit would betray voters and unleash a “political tsunami.”

May is due to present Parliament with a revised Brexit plan today, after the divorce deal she had struck the EU was rejected by lawmakers last week. With just over two months until Britain is due to leave the bloc, some members of Parliament are pushing for the U.K. to delay its departure until the country’s divided politicians can agree on a way forward.

Labour Party Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said “it’s inevitable” Britain will have to ask the EU to extend the two-year countdown to exit that ends March 29.

“The 29th of March is 68 days away,” Starmer told the BBC. “We are absolutely not prepared for it. It would be catastrophic.”

Britain’s political impasse over Brexit is fueling concerns that the country may crash out of the EU on March 29 with no agreement in place to cushion the shock. That could see tariffs imposed on goods moving between Britain and the EU, sparking logjams at ports and shortages of essential supplies.