European Union leaders will offer to delay Brexit until May 22 at the latest, but only if PM Theresa May can win backing next week for her withdrawal plan
May has said it would be"unacceptable" to ask British voters to do this almost three years after they decided in the 2016 referendum to leave the European Union.
EU diplomats previously suggested Britain would either have to leave before the European elections or take part in the vote and stay in the bloc until at least the end of the year. May is hoping that the EU summit's approval of fresh guarantees about the agreement will overcome the speaker's objections.A"no deal" next week risks huge disruption on both sides of the Channel, affecting everything from flights, to trade and causing uncertainty to millions of expatriates.EPA
But May's deal remains hugely unpopular among MPs on all sides of the Brexitdebate, with some arguing it keeps Britain too closely to the EU, and others saying it would not keep it close enough.British voters are also sharply divided.
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