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Brexit: EU considers extension as MPs mull election Brexit: EU agrees to Brexit delay, but no date yet
(32 minutes later)
EU ambassadors have met to discuss what length of Brexit delay to offer the UK, as MPs consider Boris Johnson's call for an early election. EU ambassadors have agreed to delay Brexit, but will not make a decision on a new deadline date until next week.
The talks come after Chancellor Sajid Javid admitted the deadline to deliver Brexit next Thursday "can't be met". EU spokesperson Mina Andreeva said work on this would "continue in the coming days".
Most EU states are understood to favour delaying it by three months, but France has argued for a shorter extension. The talks came after Chancellor Sajid Javid admitted the government's deadline to deliver Brexit next Thursday "can't be met".
The PM has said he will give MPs more time to debate his Brexit deal if they back a 12 December poll. MPs are expected on Monday to consider the prime minister's call for an early general election.
The government is planning to give the House of Commons a vote on an early general election on Monday, if the EU offers a Brexit delay until 31 January. Boris Johnson says he wants to hold one on 12 December, if the EU offers a Brexit delay until 31 January.
But the chances of enough MPs backing the motion - which under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act requires the support of two-thirds of MPs - appear uncertain, with Labour not committing to how it plans to vote.But the chances of enough MPs backing the motion - which under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act requires the support of two-thirds of MPs - appear uncertain, with Labour not committing to how it plans to vote.
Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said Labour was "up for an election" but needed to know more about the type of extension offered by the EU, as well as gain an "explicit commitment that no-deal is off the table".Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said Labour was "up for an election" but needed to know more about the type of extension offered by the EU, as well as gain an "explicit commitment that no-deal is off the table".
"That might mean further legislation in Parliament, I'm not sure - but we want to be absolutely certain," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme."That might mean further legislation in Parliament, I'm not sure - but we want to be absolutely certain," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
The EU's decision on what length of extension to offer was discussed in a meeting in Brussels. BBC Brussels correspondent Adam Fleming said the ambassadors' meeting had been described as "constructive", with "full agreement on the need for an extension" to the Brexit deadline.
Mr Javid told BBC Breakfast the government had to "accept we won't be able to leave on 31 October". Earlier, Mr Javid told BBC Breakfast the government had to "accept we won't be able to leave on 31 October".
He added that ministers "had done everything possible" to leave the EU by the end of the month, but "everyone expects an extension".He added that ministers "had done everything possible" to leave the EU by the end of the month, but "everyone expects an extension".
Marie Lebec, a member of the French National Assembly representing President Emmanuel Macron's En Marche party, said France would only agree to a delay if it was sure it was not an "extension for nothing".
"What we need from the UK is really to know what they want," she told the Today programme.
Remember "no ifs or buts"? Boris Johnson's promise the UK would leave on 31 October, come what may?
It turns out there was a but - and a pretty big one. Sajid Javid has admitted the Brexit deadline "can't be met".
The government will blame an extension squarely on Parliament.
Boris Johnson will argue - at every opportunity - he would have left at the end of the month if it hadn't been for MPs.
But, as is often the case in politics, promises can be hard to keep.
Mr Johnson was compelled by a law passed by MPs - known as the Benn Act - to send a letter to the bloc requesting a delay until 31 January 2020.
Before sending the letter on Saturday, he had repeatedly promised the UK would leave the EU on Halloween.
On Thursday, Mr Johnson reiterated he did not want a delay but his preferred option if one was granted was for it to be short, "say to 15 or 30 November".
In a letter to Mr Corbyn calling for an election, Mr Johnson said if a shorter delay was granted he would try to get his deal through Parliament again, with Labour's support.
BBC Europe correspondent Kevin Connolly said the EU had hoped the decision on the length of delay would be made on Friday, though it was possible it could be moved until early next week - potentially with an emergency summit - to allow events at Westminster to unfold.
A stand-off could emerge, he added, where the EU wants to wait to see how Parliament reacts to the election proposal, while MPs want to first see what sort of extension will be offered.
Should enough MPs back an election, they would have until 6 November to debate Mr Johnson's Brexit deal, the government has said.
MPs voted on Tuesday to back the first stage of the prime minister's Withdrawal Agreement Bill - putting the deal he agreed with Brussels into law - but rejected his plan to push it through the Commons in three days.
Where parties stand on election
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