Following weeks of mounting political pressure, British Prime Minister Theresa May announced a series of parliamentary votes on Tuesday that will let lawmakers decide on whether or not to leave the European Union on March 29 as planned — or to postpone the date.

The move comes after weeks of mounting political pressure on May, whose initial withdrawal agreement with the EU was overwhelmingly rejected by Parliament in January.

What will be voted on?
• The first vote in the House of Commons will take place no later than March 12 when lawmakers will decide whether or not to accept May's divorce agreement with the EU. The deal would include any amendments that she has been able to agree with Brussels since January.
• Should lawmakers reject the deal again, another vote will take place on March 13. This time, MPs will vote on whether or not to leave the EU without a deal.
• If MPs reject a "no-deal" Brexit, a third vote will be held on March 14 on asking the EU to temporarily extend Article 50. If EU leaders approve, Brexit will be delayed and both sides will have extra time to negotiate a final deal.

May told lawmakers that she still intends to lead Britain out of the EU at the end of March with a deal.

"Let me be clear, I do not want to see Article 50 extended. Our absolute focus should be on working to get a deal and leaving on March 29," she said, later adding: "An extension cannot take no deal off the table."

The prime minister added that any extension, which she says would not extend beyond the end of June, would be a one-off and that her government was committed to following through on honoring the results of the 2016 referendum that saw 51.9 percent of voters back leaving the EU while 48.1 percent voted to remain.

May's announcement comes the opposition Labour Party shifted its Brexit policy towards supporting a second referendum.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn accused May of "continuing to run down the clock," saying that the ongoing spat is intensifying uncertainty for business.

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.</s>With barely a month remaining before Britain's planned EU exit, it is still hard to predict the most likely Brexit outcome with scenarios ranging from having a ratified deal, an agreement to extend negotiations or even scupper Brexit.

So far, what seems to be clear is that the U.K. will leave the EU on March 29 with or without a deal unless there is an agreed extension. According to Bloomberg news agency, British Prime Theresa May would reportedly postpone the deadline for leaving the EU to avoid a "no-deal Brexit." The Sun newspaper also reported that she was expected to formally rule out a no-deal Brexit, which would open the door to a delay of weeks or months to the March 29 exit date.

On Monday evening, May argued that a Brexit delay would be of no benefit to resolve the gap between the government and Parliament over the divorce agreement with the EU. The EU, however, opened the door to May postponing its exit from the bloc beyond the March 29 deadline. European Council President Donald Tusk stated that, "An extension would be a rational solution, but Prime Minister May still believes she's able to avoid this scenario." According to the Guardian newspaper, EU officials "put the chance of the U.K. crashing out without a deal at 'more than 50 percent,'" as discontent over May's handling of Brexit is growing in Brussels.

In case of a Brexit deadline extension, three possible options are being emphasized. A technical and short-term extension would be required to complete the process, including ratification by the European Parliament and the adoption of implementing legislation, even if the Brexit deal will be endorsed during the next parliamentary vote scheduled to be held by March 12 at the latest.

The second option, a three-month extension, would be likely to happen if the House of Commons does not approve the divorce deal. In this case, May could ask the bloc for an extension. It is important to note here that the U.K. cannot extend the Brexit deadline unilaterally, however, and needs the European Union to sign on to the idea.

A 21-month extension is considered as the third option and the longest extension of the Article 50 Brexit process until 2021 with December 2020 marking the end of the transition period under the current deal. However, in this case, the U.K. could be required to hold a European Parliament election in accordance with EU electoral law amid complexities over the issue.

At today's session of the House of Commons, the Brexit issue will be discussed and the amendments to the divorce agreement will be voted on. These proposals include postponing the Brexit deadline extension as well as a second referendum. Despite long opposition, Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn raised the pressure, saying he supports a second referendum to prevent a no-deal Brexit without specifying a date. However, securing majority support for a people's vote in Parliament seems difficult to achieve.</s>British Prime Minister Theresa May has bowed to intense political pressure and handed control of Brexit to parliament, telling politicians they will get to choose between leaving the European Union on schedule — with or without a divorce deal — and asking the EU to postpone departure day.

Mrs May said that if parliament rejects her deal with the EU in a vote due by March 12, politicians will vote the next day on whether to leave the bloc without an agreement.

If that is defeated, as seems likely, they will vote on whether to ask the EU to delay Brexit by up to three months.

Mrs May said the promises were “commitments I am making as prime minister and I will stick by them.”

Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, but so far the government has not been able to win Parliament’s backing for its divorce deal with the bloc.

That leaves the UK facing a chaotic “no-deal” Brexit that could cause disruption for businesses and people in both Britain and the EU.

Mrs May shifted position after members of her own government joined calls for her to rule out a “no-deal” departure.

Three government ministers said that they would vote with opposition MPs to stop a no-deal departure unless Mrs May agreed to delay Brexit and guarantee “we are not swept over the precipice on March 29.”

Mrs May said her goal remains to lead Britain out of the EU on schedule and with a deal.

“I don’t want to see an extension,” she said, adding that any delay to Brexit should be “as short as possible.”

Delaying Brexit would require approval from all 27 other EU countries. The bloc has said it is likely to agree, but only if Britain has a good reason for the pause.

Businesses warn that without a deal Britain risks a chaotic departure that could disrupt trade between the UK and the EU, its biggest trading partner.

The uncertainty has already led many British firms to shift some operations abroad, stockpile goods or defer investment decisions.

Businesses and the markets breathed a sigh of relief at Mrs May’s statement, which did not rule out “no deal” but at least pushed it a bit further away. The pound rose to its highest level for a month.

“Today, we have seen real movement towards ruling out a chaotic and damaging no-deal on March 29,” said Mike Cherry, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses.

But many politicians pointed out that British politics remains deadlocked over Brexit, with both Mrs May’s governing Conservatives and the main opposition Labour Party deeply split on the issue.

Pro-EU Conservative legislator Ken Clarke said delaying Brexit would not break the logjam, but only see the “present pantomime” continue, with “similar chaos about where we are going.”

The House of Commons rejected Mrs May’s deal with the EU last month — largely over concerns about a provision to guarantee an open border between the UK’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland — and sent Mrs May back to Brussels to get changes.

The EU is adamant that the legally binding withdrawal agreement can’t be changed, though the bloc’s negotiators are holding talks with UK Attorney-General Geoffrey Cox about potential tweaks or additions around the margins.

Mrs May’s concession to parliament came ahead of a series of votes in which pro-EU politicians planned to try to force the government to rule out a “no-deal” Brexit.

Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn accused May of “continuing to run down the clock.”

“Every delay, every bit of badly made fudge just intensifies the uncertainty for industry, business, investment being held back, jobs being lost and more jobs being putting at risk,” he said.

Labour, which has its own internal schism over Brexit, took a step on Monday toward campaigning for a new EU membership referendum as a way to break the deadlock.

The left-of-centre party said it would back a second public vote if the House of Commons rejects its alternative Brexit plan, which calls for Britain to retain close economic ties with the EU.</s>SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — The Latest on Brexit (all times local):

Britain's main opposition Labour Party has thrown its weight behind efforts to hold a new referendum on the country's European Union membership.

The party has previously said it would support a referendum as a last resort if it could not secure a new election or make changes to Prime Minister Theresa May's EU divorce deal.

In a change of emphasis, the party says leader Jeremy Corbyn told Labour lawmakers on Monday that the party is committed to "putting forward or supporting an amendment in favor of a public vote to prevent a damaging Tory Brexit being forced on the country."

Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29 but Parliament has so far rejected the deal struck between May's government and the bloc. Parliament is due to hold a series of votes Wednesday on next steps in the Brexit process.

British Prime Minister Theresa May remains convinced March 29 remains a realistic Brexit date, despite the EU urging Britain to delay its departure from the bloc to avoid a chaotic rupture.

May said after meeting with several EU leaders at a summit in Egypt that "it is within our grasp to leave with a deal on 29th of March and I think that that is where all of our energies should be focused."

She said that "any delay is a delay. It doesn't address the issue. It doesn't resolve the issue."

Moments earlier, EU Council President Donald Tusk had said a delay would be the "rational solution."

European Council President Donald Tusk says that the chances of a Brexit deal being sealed are receding and he is urging British Prime Minister Theresa May to request that the negotiations be prolonged.

Tusk said Monday that "it's clear that there is no majority in the House of Commons to approve a deal."

He said: "I believe that in the situation that we are in, an extension would be a rational solution."

He added that May's 27 European partners would show "maximum understanding."

British Prime Minister Theresa May is under pressure to delay the country's departure from the European Union, after she postponed a vote in Parliament on her Brexit deal with the bloc.

May is holding meetings with EU leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday at an EU-Arab League summit in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, as she seeks elusive changes to the U.K.-EU divorce agreement.

Britain's Parliament has rejected the deal once, and May has just over a month to get it approved by lawmakers before Britain's scheduled departure day of March 29. May says a new vote won't be held this week and could come as late as March 12.

A group of lawmakers will try this week to force the government to delay Brexit.</s>LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday that any changes to the divorce deal with the European Union would be put before parliament ahead of any vote on a Brexit agreement.

“We are in discussions with the EU about changes ... in relation to the backstop for Northern Ireland,” May told parliament. “Any changes that are agreed with the European Union would be put before this House (of Commons, lower house of parliament) before the meaningful vote.”</s>Speaking to Sky News, the Conservative MP claimed he was pleased Theresa May did not give in to the demands of the pro-Brexit European Research Group which he referred to as the "minority of the minority". Mr Harrington argued the Prime Minister's decision to allow Parliament to vote on whether the UK should leave the EU without an agreement at the end of March reduces the chances of the "disastrous" outcome to zero.

Mr Harrington said: “I wasn’t threatening to resign but I was saying unless the policy changes towards allowing Parliament to remove no deal then I couldn’t be part of the Government. “And today the Prime Minister said at the dispatch box in response to representation from myself and other members of Government and other members of Parliament, that Parliament will vote on no deal. “Which effectively means no deal is dead because Parliament will overwhelmingly vote to remove it. “Parliament knows that it’s a total disaster. In my opinion, it should never be in a negotiating ploy.”

He added: “I welcome it and I thank her for listening to our representations and not giving in to the minority of the minority of the ERG who have this fantasy that we could leave the European Union without a deal and everything would be okay.” Delivering a statement in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister announced that MPs will get to vote on a Brexit no deal and a Brexit delay if her withdrawal agreement is rejected in March. Mrs May confirmed that she will put her withdrawal agreement - including whatever additional assurances she has secured from Brussels - to a "meaningful vote" by March 12. If that fails, MPs will be offered two separate votes - one on a no-deal Brexit, and the other on requesting an extension to the two-year Article 50 negotiation process to delay EU withdrawal beyond March 29.

Mrs May told MPs: "They are commitments I am making as Prime Minister and I will stick by them, as I have previous commitments to make statements and table amendable motions by specific dates." Labour's Jeremy Corbyn accused the Prime Minister of "kicking the can down the road", while the chairman of the influential ERG, Jacob Rees-Mogg, raised fears of a "plot to stop Brexit" which would "undermine our democracy". "My suspicion is that any delay to Brexit is a plot to stop Brexit," said Mr Rees-Mogg, adding: "This would be the most grievous error that politicians could commit." Downing Street declined to say how Conservative MPs would be whipped in the votes, or what length of extension would be offered if it came to a motion to extend Article 50. But Mrs May told the Commons that she wanted any delay to be "as short as possible". Any extension beyond the end of June would require the UK to take part in the upcoming European Parliament elections, while a shorter delay "would almost certainly have to be a one-off", she said.</s>Image copyright ©UK Parliament/Mark Duffy

MPs will have their say on the next steps for Brexit later after European leaders indicated they would consider delaying the UK's departure if a deal is not agreed by 29 March.

Germany's Angela Merkel said if the UK needed more time to get Parliament's approval, she would "not oppose" it.

Theresa May has said MPs will get a vote on delaying Brexit if her deal and a no-deal outcome are both rejected.

MPs will vote on amendments to a government motion in the Commons later.

Wednesday's votes are not on Mrs May's Brexit deal itself - she says that will happen before 12 March.

Instead, MPs are seeking assurances and to hold the PM to her commitment, made on Tuesday, to allow MPs a vote on extending 29 March's Brexit deadline to avoid Britain leaving without a deal.

The prime minister's critics have accused her of "kicking the can down the road" with her pledge to hold more votes before 12 March - just 17 days before Brexit.

But she insisted her efforts to persuade the EU to make concessions had "already begun to bear fruit".

The government has accepted an amendment by Conservative MP Alberto Costa, which seeks to protect the rights of UK citizens in the EU, and vice versa, regardless of the outcome of UK-EU negotiations.

The amendment - which calls on the UK to secure agreement on this at "the earliest opportunity" - had gained significant cross-party backing from 141 MPs - including Labour and the Democratic Unionists.

Despite this, Mr Costa has resigned his job as aide to Scottish Secretary David Mundell, because, he told MPs, of a convention that members of the government should not amend government motions.

He said he "welcomed" the government's support for his amendment but it did not go far enough.

He said he wanted ministers to spell out "exactly what measures" Theresa May will now take to guarantee citizens rights and urged her to write to European Council President Donald Tusk.

He said the rights of the estimated million UK citizens living in the EU, and the three million EU citizens in the UK, "should never have been used as a bargaining chip" in the government's Brexit negotiations.

Green MP Caroline Lucas praised Mr Costa's stand and called for him to be reinstated in the government.

Analysis by Nick Eardley, BBC Political Correspondent

It looks a bit strange, doesn't it?

The government accepts an amendment from a member of the government - but then essentially sacks that member of the government for tabling it in the first place.

I'm told by several people that Alberto Costa was left with no decision but to resign. He met with the prime minister this morning made it clear he wasn't backing down which sealed his fate.

That's left some Tories furious. They point out he has a personal interest in the EU citizens' rights issue given his Italian parentage and say he was simply trying to get assurances he had been offered by Theresa May backed by the Commons. One member of the government said the treatment of Mr Costa had been appalling.

But a senior ally of the PM says Mrs May was left with no choice. It is, they point out, against the rules for members of the government to table amendments to government motions. This is a clear black and white example of breaking, they conclude, unlike some recent comments from cabinet ministers which could be open to interpretation (again their argument, not mine).

Another junior member of the government says that if Mr Costa had moved his amendment as a member of the government tonight - and it had been passed - it would have set a terrible precedent and led to many more similar situations.

Five amendments - out of 12 originally tabled - were selected for debate by Speaker John Bercow.

The Labour leadership's amendment calls on MPs to support its alternative Brexit plan, which would include a "comprehensive customs union" and close alignment with the EU in the future.

If that proposal is voted down, Jeremy Corbyn has said the party would move to formally back another EU referendum "in order to prevent a damaging Tory Brexit" or no-deal outcome.

Mrs May has accused Labour of "playing political games" and argued the best way for the country to move forward is for MPs to approve the revised deal she hopes to bring back.

The SNP amendment insists the UK should not leave the EU in any circumstances without a deal "regardless of any exit date".

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Sajid Javid: "What do you mean now? When was the government not supporting it? When did you hear that?"

On Tuesday, Theresa May promised MPs a vote on delaying Brexit for a short period if MPs reject her deal and leaving without a deal.

This was designed to head off a potential defeat on a cross-party amendment tabled by Labour MP Yvette Cooper, which calls for the same thing.

Ms Cooper has not withdrawn her amendment, because she wants to hold the prime minister to her commitment.

She said: "We will keep up the pressure working cross-party to ensure the commitments are implemented... to avoid any backsliding and to make sure we do not end up with a chaotic no deal."

An amendment by Conservative MP Dame Caroline Spelman and Labour's Jack Dromey amendment - calling for Parliamentary time to make the PM's no-deal vote commitment legally binding - will not be put to the vote, following government assurances.

"The government has just confirmed acceptance of all the proposals in our amendments. There will not now be a no-deal Brexit In 30 days' time because there is not a majority in the House for crashing out without a deal," the MPs said in a joint statement.

What does it mean to table an amendment?

The process starts with the government putting down a motion. It is a plain piece of text, asking the House to note the prime minister's most recent Brexit statement - made on Tuesday - and that discussions between the UK and the EU are ongoing.

This then allows MPs to table amendments - alternative options - to that motion, setting out their proposals on what they think should happen next.

Please upgrade your browser Your guide to Brexit jargon Enter the word or phrase you are looking for Search

Mrs May said any delay to the UK's departure should not go beyond the end of June and "would almost certainly have to be a one-off".

Extending Article 50 would require the unanimous backing of the other 27 EU member states - something they have indicated they would be happy to do.

Speaking on Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would "not oppose" a request from the UK for more time although French President Emmanuel Macron struck a more sceptical note, saying there had to be a "clear objective" behind any extension.

"As our negotiator Michel Barnier has said, we don't need more time but decisions," he said during a meeting in Paris. "The time has come therefore for the British to make choices."</s>French President Emmanuel Macron has suggested the UK will need a good reason to delay its scheduled departure from the European Union on March 29.

In a dramatic U-turn on Tuesday, Theresa May announced she will allow MPs to vote on an extension to the two-year negotiation period set down in the EU’s Article 50 if she has not secured Parliament’s approval for her deal by March 12.

The Prime Minister had been expected to face a wave of ministerial resignations if she had maintained her refusal to countenance delay as MPs take part in a series of votes on Wednesday evening.

An amendment calling for Parliament to take on powers to impose an extension was among five selected by Speaker John Bercow at the start of the latest afternoon-long Brexit debate in the House of Commons.

But Mrs May’s climbdown has taken much of the sting out of the occasion, with no resignations expected and the amendment’s tabler Dame Caroline Spelman indicating she may not force it to a vote if she receives adequate reassurance on the PM’s intentions.

Also selected was an amendment from Labour’s Yvette Cooper, simply restating Mrs May’s promises in the hope of pinning her down to them with a motion passed by the House.

Any extension of Article 50 will require the unanimous agreement of the remaining 27 EU states.

But Mr Macron said that any request from Britain would need to be justified by “a clear perspective on the goal,” adding: “We don’t need time, we need decisions.”

Speaking at a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris, the French president said: “We would support an extension request only if it was justified by a new choice of the British.”

Mrs Merkel said: “If Great Britain needs more time we will not oppose it but of course we are seeking an orderly exit. We regret this step, but it is reality and we now have to find a good solution.”

Meanwhile, Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez told the Madrid Parliament he would not oppose an extension if it pointed the way to a resolution of the Brexit issue, but warned: “Prolonging uncertainty by postponing deadlines is not a reasonable nor desirable alternative.”

MPs will also debate Jeremy Corbyn’s amendment calling for the adoption of Labour’s customs union plan for Brexit. If it is rejected by MPs, he has indicated he will throw the party’s weight behind calls for a second referendum.

Also selected was an SNP call for a no-deal Brexit to be ruled out “under any circumstances and regardless of any exit date” and a proposal by Conservative MP Alberto Costa for a UK/EU treaty to protect citizens’ rights in the event of no-deal.

Mr Costa quit his position as an unpaid parliamentary aide in the Scotland Office, despite Home Secretary Sajid Javid saying he supported his proposal and Downing Street making clear that Mrs May does not oppose it.

A Number 10 source said the South Leicestershire MP had breached a long-standing convention that members of the administration – including parliamentary private secretaries (PPSs) – cannot table amendments to Government motions.

But Labour said he had effectively been sacked. Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said his removal “prolongs the anxiety and uncertainty that over five million people have faced for two and a half years”.

The 3.5 million EU citizens in the UK and the 1.5 million Britons living on the continent “don’t deserve to be treated as a political football kicked between the Home Office and Number 10”, said Ms Abbott.

Opening debate in the Commons on a neutral motion tabled by the Prime Minister, Cabinet Office minister David Lidington stressed that the Government’s Brexit objectives had not changed as a result of Mrs May’s offer of votes on blocking no-deal and extending Article 50.

Earlier, Tory Brexiteers signalled a more flexible stance on demands for legal guarantees limiting the Northern Ireland backstop.

Prominent Leave backer Jacob Rees-Mogg indicated he could swing behind the Government’s exit deal if binding legal assurances were added to an appendix to the Withdrawal Agreement, rather than put in the treaty itself.</s>LONDON (AP) - The Latest on Britain's negotiations to leave the European Union (all times local):

Germany's main business lobby group is urging British politicians to stop dithering on Brexit and says it would be "absurd" for Britain to slide into a no-deal departure from the European Union that isn't even supported by a majority in its Parliament.

Joachim Lang, the chief executive of the Federation of German Industries, said Tuesday that "British politicians must not delay decisions any longer." He added that "if the British government doesn't find a majority in the lower house in March, it is time to halt the withdrawal process."

Lang said an unregulated Brexit would hurt the German economy but called on the German government and European Union to stick to their principles. He said that "the top priority must continue to be the unity of the EU 27 and the European Economic Area. The fundamental principles and achievements of European integration are too valuable to call into question."

Prime Minister Theresa May is facing a revolt from members of her own government as lawmakers try to prevent her from taking Britain out of the European Union in a month's time without a divorce deal.

Three junior government ministers write in Tuesday's Daily Mail that they will vote with lawmakers from all parties to stop a no-deal departure unless May agrees to delay Brexit and guarantee "we are not swept over the precipice on March 29."

May has insisted Britain will leave the EU on schedule, even though she still hasn't reached an agreement that can win parliamentary approval.

The main opposition Labour Party on Monday took a step to back calls for a referendum on the Brexit deal as a way to break the deadlock.</s>LONDON
• Prime Minister Theresa May returned from a seemingly unproductive meeting with European Union leaders Monday to a growing attempt by British lawmakers to stop her from taking Britain out of the EU on March 29 without a divorce deal.

With May and the EU at odds over not just how, but when Brexit should happen, her political opponents were getting increasingly desperate to take control of Britain’s departure from the bloc.

At an EU-Arab League summit in Egypt, the EU warned Britain it faces the prospect of delaying its planned March 29 departure or the consequences of a chaotic exit. European Council President Donald Tusk, who chairs meetings of EU nation leaders, said Monday it would be “rational” to postpone Brexit day.

May insisted she intends for Britain to leave as planned in a little more than a month. But her often divided opponents may be coalescing around a plan to prevent Britain crashing out of the EU with no agreement in place.

The party has previously said it would support a referendum as a last resort if it could not secure a new election or make changes to May’s EU divorce deal. Britain’s Parliament has so far rejected the deal struck between May’s government and the bloc, and is due to hold a series of votes Wednesday on next steps in the Brexit process.

Labour has proposed its own withdrawal plan as an alternative to the government’s deal with the EU. The party said Monday it would back a second public vote if the House of Commons rejects its plan this week.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the party is committed to “putting forward or supporting an amendment in favor of a public vote to prevent a damaging Tory Brexit being forced on the country.”

The party did not specify what voters might be asked to consider in any future vote, though it has previously said the option of Britain remaining an EU member would be included.

Labour has previously said it would only support a second referendum as a last resort if it could not secure a new general election or make changes to May’s divorce deal.

The change in approach follows the resignations of nine Labour lawmakers last week, partly over the party’s failure to back another Brexit referendum.
MPs in the House of Commons meet to discuss UK Prime Minister Theresa May's latest proposed deal for the state's departure from the European Union. May says if this proposal and a 'no deal' scenario are both rejected by MPs they will be granted a vote on extending the departure deadline beyond the current one of March 29.