Parliament must stop “chasing rainbows” and break the deadlock over Brexit to avoid inflicting further damage on the UK economy, business leaders have warned.

In a further sign of the growing frustration over the government’s handling of Brexit, the head of the British Chambers of Commerce, Adam Marshall, called on MPs to end three years of going round in circles over the best way to leave the EU and urged them to take tough decisions to break the impasse.

He said MPs should avoid a no-deal departure and either throw their support behind Theresa May’s deal, trigger a long delay in the article 50 process, or revoke Brexit and remain in the EU.

“Our elected representatives cannot keep chasing rainbows,” he said. “Like all of us in business, they need to start making tough decisions, however personally or politically difficult they might be.”

Speaking at the lobby group’s annual conference in Westminster hours after MPs had rejected all eight alternative proposals to the prime minister’s withdrawal agreement, he said a “Brexit black hole” was sapping the vitality of the economy.

“[Business is] counting the cost of uncertainty as the political impasse at Westminster continues. In many parts of our economy, real-world damage is happening right now,” he said.

Two cabinet ministers, the chief secretary to the Treasury, Liz Truss, and David Lidington, who is May’s de facto deputy, later told the audience of business leaders from across the country that May’s deal was the only option.

“There’s a dawning realisation the deal the prime minister set out is the deal that will allow us to move forward as a country,” Truss said.

Lidington said: “Whether a particular MP wants the final destination to look like Norway or look like Canada or look like the proposals in the Chequers white paper, the starting point is the withdrawal agreement itself.”

Keir Starmer, Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary, used a speech later at the conference to warn that passing the withdrawal agreement would spark a Tory leadership contest, leading to a “Boris Johnson Brexit, a Jacob Rees-Mogg Brexit, or a Michael Gove Brexit”.

The warnings from business leaders come amid growing signs that the Brexit impasse is causing damage to the economy. Alison Rose, the chief executive of commercial and private banking at Royal Bank of Scotland, told the conference that its corporate customers had increasingly moved to pause their investment plans in Britain over the past three months.

“The uncertainty makes it very difficult for anyone running a business.

“Everyone today would agree that the uncertainty has gone on for far too long,” she said. “We’re at a point where decisions need to be made in terms of preparing for the worst – and that’s certainly what we’ve done.”</s>(Bloomberg) -- Today in Brexit: A day of drama leaves us no further ahead.

For a moment last night it looked like Theresa May might just pull it off.

The prime minister played her best, and one of her last, cards, offering the Brexiteers her job in return for their votes for her deal. Then her so-called allies in the Democratic Unionist Party played theirs and it was a trump: The Northern Irish party refused to back her plan.

May’s wasn’t the only failure in another frantic day in Westminster. Parliament also failed to find a majority for any kind of Brexit. Still, legislators came close. A proposal to stay in the European Union’s customs regime—the lowest common denominator of soft Brexits—got within eight votes of victory. When Parliament comes back on Monday for a second round of voting on Brexit options, a customs union looks set to top the shortlist.

What can May do now? She can threaten a general election that no one really wants, in a final bid to get her deal over the line. Or she can tell lawmakers she’s going back to Brussels to ask for a long extension of membership. That means spending another year fighting over what Brexit means, with the implicit risk that the divorce might be abandoned in that time. The most-voted option last night was the idea of a referendum on the deal, a fact that should concentrate Brexiteer minds.

The problem May now faces is that threats that might scare Brexiteers into backing her, such as a soft Brexit or a long extension, have the opposite effect on moderate, pro-EU Tories and potential backers on the Labour benches.

The prime minister must decide on Thursday whether to bring her unpopular deal back for one more vote on Friday. It’s the last chance she has to get it approved and lock in the May 22 exit day the EU penciled in last week.

A day of high drama left us back at square one. May doesn’t have the votes, and Parliament is still too divided to take control. Unless May goes back on her word not to lead Britain into no-deal limbo without Parliament’s consent, a general election, with Brexit postponed, looks increasingly likely.
• Brexit’s Alice in Wonderland logic continues. The latest twist: “If Theresa May succeeds in at last shepherding her deal through Parliament, she has to resign. If she fails, she can stay,” writes Bloomberg’s John Authers.
• The Times backs May’s decision to quit: “The country will want a dynamic reformer who can bring Britain together, not another divisive figure.”

Labour’s Referendum Stance | In the chaos of Wednesday, one of the interesting things we learned was that Labour backs the idea of a referendum on a Brexit deal if it’s a Tory plan, but not if it’s an accord that Labour has negotiated.

You Can Stay! | EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said “all possibilities” remain for the U.K. until decision day on April 12—including remaining in the bloc. European Council President Donald Tusk appealed to the European Parliament to consider a long extension for the U.K.

No-Deal Ferries | Britain’s no-deal flotilla is getting ready to set sail, shuttling trucks carrying critical goods into the country starting Friday. The ferry contracts, totaling £89 million ($118 million), are meant to guard against shortages of items like medicines, vaccines and blood, along with spare parts for the energy sector and essential chemicals.

Not So Fond Farewell | The U.K.’s last full session in the European Parliament was marked by an exchange of insults between Nigel Farage, the leading Brexit campaigner, and Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian premier who leads the assembly’s response to Brexit. “You remind me more and more of Field Marshal Haig in Blackadder,” Verhofstadt told Farage. Farage shot back: “You should know that it was Field Marshal Haig in 1914 who saved the Belgian town of Ypres from German domination. He should be a great hero to you.”

Contempt of Parliament | Dominic Cummings, the director of Vote Leave during the referendum campaign, was found in contempt of Parliament for refusing to answer lawmakers’ questions during an investigation into fake news. The Brexit mastermind, played by Benedict Cumberbatch in a recent TV drama, is known for his combative style. He repeatedly refused to appear before a parliamentary committee that wanted to ask him about targeted online advertising after allegations that private Facebook data may have been misused.

Meanwhile in Brussels | EU ambassadors in Brussels meet at 10 a.m. to discuss the state of Brexit talks.

On the Markets | The pound fell after the DUP delivered its coup de grace and Parliament failed to produce a majority for any Brexit alternative. It traded at $1.3185 early on Thursday.

Want to keep up with Brexit?

You can follow us @Brexit on Twitter and join our Facebook group, Brexit Decoded. For all the latest news, visit bloomberg.com/brexit. Got feedback? Send us an email.

Know someone who’d like the Brexit Bulletin?Colleagues, friends and family can sign up here, and our new newsletter, the Brussels Edition, offers in-depth coverage of the EU.

For even more: Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access for our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close.

To contact the author of this story: Emma Ross-Thomas in London at erossthomas@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anne Swardson at aswardson@bloomberg.net, Adam Blenford</s>The EU’s executive said on Thursday that if Britain fails to ratify its divorce agreement this week, Brexit will only be postponed until April 12. European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas was commenting on indicative votes in the UK parliament that produced no clear majority for any Brexit option, Reuters reports. “If the withdrawal agreement is not ratified by the end of this week, Article 50 will be extended to April 12 and it is now for the UK government to inform about how it sees the next steps,” Schinas said. “We counted eight ‘noes’ last night, now we need a ‘yes’ on the way forward.”</s>On the day that Britain was meant to leave the EU, 1,009 days after the referendum, Theresa May’s Brexit vision will stand or fall on a plan cobbled together over eight frantic hours.

The Prime Minister will split her Brexit deal in two and ask MPs to back just one half of it - the legally-binding Withdrawal Agreement that would allow Britain to leave the EU on May 22.

The compromise came after a day of intense discussions between John Bercow - who had banned a third vote on the whole deal - and Geoffrey Cox, the Attorney General, over what the Speaker would accept.

However, Labour accused Mrs May of “trickery of the highest order” and said they would vote against Friday’s motion.</s>LONDON (AP) — The Latest on Britain's departure from the European Union (all times local):

A survey of German companies' subsidiaries in Britain and British firms' subsidiaries in Germany has found that nearly half the companies aren't prepared for Brexit.

The survey of 101 firms, conducted in December and January and released Thursday, showed that 47 percent hadn't carried out a Brexit risk assessment. It was conducted by auditor KPMG and the British Chamber of Commerce in Germany.

It showed a wide variety of expectations for the outcome of the Brexit impasse. KPMG's Andreas Glunz said that "when all scenarios are possible, a company can't prepare for all scenarios simultaneously."

Thirteen percent of respondents said that, if Britain leaves the European Union without a deal, they would move some or all of their business from the U.K. to Germany, and a further 10 percent planned to move business from Britain to another EU country. None planned to move business to Britain.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is making a final effort to save her European Union withdrawal deal after her promise to quit failed to win over lawmakers from Northern Ireland.

May pledged Wednesday night that she would stand down if the deal were approved, in hopes of blunting opposition from lawmakers who have criticized her leadership. While some opponents, including former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, quickly said they would back May's deal, Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party said it remained opposed because of concerns it treats the province differently from other parts of the U.K.

Parliament later rejected eight alternatives in a series of "indicative votes."

Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay said the outcome showed May's deal was "the best option" as he appealed for lawmakers to support the agreement.</s>PARIS (Reuters) - Britain’s departure from the European Union may be mired in turmoil but a second referendum would be anti-democratic, said Nathalie Loiseau, a former French minister now spearheading President Emmanuel Macron’s European election campaign.

Taking a swipe at Britain’s beleaguered political class, Loiseau said Brexit had been sold to Britons on “simplistic slogans” and now the country did not know in which direction to head as an April 12 deadline approaches.

“There is chaos, there is confusion,” Loiseau told BFM TV on Thursday. “I’m against a new referendum because it would be a denial of democracy. Britain must leave.”

Prime Minister Theresa May’s offer on Wednesday to resign if her deal was passed appeared to have failed to convince her hardline opponents to back her Brexit withdrawal agreement. Meanwhile, parliament’s bid to agree an alternative strategy also fell short, leaving the process as deadlocked as ever.

At a summit of European leaders last week, Macron led the charge for only a short Brexit delay from March 29 if May could not secure her parliament’s backing for the divorce deal.

Britain has long been a thorn in French plans for deeper European integration and Macron is increasingly frustrated by how Brexit is distracting the EU from other priorities, from euro zone reform to confronting rising nationalism.

Loiseau stepped down as European Affairs minister this week to head Macron’s European candidate list.</s>MPs are to vote on the Government’s EU Withdrawal Agreement on Friday.

But the motion will not count as a third attempt to pass a “meaningful vote” on Theresa May’s deal, because it will not cover the future relationship with Europe.

Commons Speaker John Bercow cleared the motion for debate, ruling that it complies with parliamentary conventions which bar ministers from asking MPs to vote repeatedly on the same proposals.

If passed by MPs on Friday, the vote would qualify the UK to be granted an automatic delay to May 22 of the formal date of Brexit.

But it would not allow Parliament to go ahead and ratify the withdrawal deal, as Brexit legislation allows this only after the passage of a “meaningful vote” on both the Withdrawal Agreement and a Political Declaration on the future relationship.

Moving the motion to enable the debate to take place on March 29 – initially slated as Brexit day – the Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom urged MPs to back the deal “so that we can leave the EU in an orderly way that gives businesses and people the certainty that they need”.

Labour has already declared that it will not back the Government in Friday’s vote, warning that it risked “the blindest of all blind Brexits”.

Downing Street has said that Mrs May will not move to a third meaningful vote – known in Westminster as MV3 – unless she believes she has a realistic chance of success, having seen it defeated by 230 votes in January and 149 in March.

But it is understood that Number 10 believes that passing the Withdrawal Agreement alone would allow the UK to guarantee its departure date and avoid the need for Britain to take part in European Parliament elections on May 23-26.

This would buy time to seek wider agreement among MPs on the shape of the UK’s future relationship with the EU, in the hope of passing MV3 in April and leaving with a deal on May 22.

Significant doubts remain over whether Mrs May can secure a majority for the Withdrawal Agreement alone on Friday.

The Agreement includes the controversial “backstop” customs arrangements for the Irish border which continue to represent the biggest obstacle to support from the DUP and Brexit-backing Tories in the European Research Group.

And shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer made clear that Labour does not support the separation of the Withdrawal Agreement from the Political Declaration.

The move could leave the UK facing “a Boris Johnson Brexit, a Jacob Rees-Mogg Brexit or a Michael Gove Brexit” after Mrs May stands down, he warned.

“We would be leaving the EU, but with absolutely no idea where we are heading,” Sir Keir told a conference of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

“That cannot be acceptable and Labour will not vote for it.”

If the motion fails, the UK will have until April 12 to ask for a further extension to Brexit negotiations – which would require voters to choose new MEPs – or leave the EU without a deal.</s>Brexit has been officially delayed – almost three years after the referendum.

MPs voted in favour of legally changing the date from March 29 by 441 votes to 105 – a majority of 336.

The United Kingdom was originally due to leave the EU this Friday but trying to get MPs to agree on how to leave has been shambolic.

The EU took pity on the Prime Minister after her repeated attempts to get her deal through Parliament failed.

Last week, the bloc agreed to Theresa May’s request for an extension to the divorce date until April 12.

The EU said if Mrs May could get her deal passed, they would extend the deadline until May 22.

On Wednesday night, she said she would quit once her Withdrawal Agreement was passed.

However, it appears like she still might not have the numbers to do that after the DUP – who she relies on to prop up her minority Government – said they would still reject it.

That raises the possibility we may still crash out of the bloc without a deal in a few weeks’ time.

The vote on extending the Brexit leave date came as politicians took part in a series of indicative votes.

They voted on eight motions, ranging from soft Brexit to no deal to not leaving the bloc at all.

The motions are designed to see if there is a majority for any potential way forward if Mrs May’s deal fails again.</s>LONDON (AP) — The Latest on Britain's departure from the European Union (all times local):

A survey of German companies' subsidiaries in Britain and British firms' subsidiaries in Germany has found that nearly half the companies aren't prepared for Brexit.

The survey of 101 firms, conducted in December and January and released Thursday, showed that 47 percent hadn't carried out a Brexit risk assessment. It was conducted by auditor KPMG and the British Chamber of Commerce in Germany.

It showed a wide variety of expectations for the outcome of the Brexit impasse. KPMG's Andreas Glunz said that "when all scenarios are possible, a company can't prepare for all scenarios simultaneously."

Thirteen percent of respondents said that, if Britain leaves the European Union without a deal, they would move some or all of their business from the U.K. to Germany, and a further 10 percent planned to move business from Britain to another EU country. None planned to move business to Britain.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is making a final effort to save her European Union withdrawal deal after her promise to quit failed to win over lawmakers from Northern Ireland.

May pledged Wednesday night that she would stand down if the deal were approved, in hopes of blunting opposition from lawmakers who have criticized her leadership. While some opponents, including former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, quickly said they would back May's deal, Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party said it remained opposed because of concerns it treats the province differently from other parts of the U.K.

Parliament later rejected eight alternatives in a series of "indicative votes."

Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay said the outcome showed May's deal was "the best option" as he appealed for lawmakers to support the agreement.</s>Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

The EU should give Britain an unlimited extension to Brexit, a German MEP has told CNN.

With the exception of pro-Brexit British parliamentarians such as Nigel Farage, "I haven’t met any member of the European Parliament that doesn’t regret Britain leaving," said Hans-Olaf Henkel.

"It is high time the European Parliament, as well as the Council, does something about it," he said. "They have to offer Britain an unlimited extension. Why should they limit the extension?"

European leaders will likely decide on further postponing Brexit at an emergency summit called for April 10.

Henkel added that Friday's defeat for Theresa May's Brexit deal raised the prospects of a second vote on leaving the EU. "They keep the door open for a second referendum—with hopefully a different result to the last one," he said.

If Britain gets a longer extension to its Brexit deadline, it would be required to participate in the European elections. In that case, said Henkel, re-allocating seats to Britain would be a straightforward process. "It is the right of the British to get their 73 seats."
UK Prime Minister Theresa May suffers another defeat of 286–344 on her Withdrawal Agreement. European Council President Donald Tusk schedules an emergency summit on April 10, two days before Brexit is scheduled to happen.