BREXTRA TIME
Brexit could be DELAYED if Theresa May doesn’t cut a deal within a month, Jeremy Hunt admits
The Foreign Secretary is the first member of the PM's inner circle to contemplate a delay to Brexit
BREXIT could be delayed if Theresa May doesn't win her battle with Brussels quickly, Jeremy Hunt said today.
The Foreign Secretary admitted Britain may NOT leave the EU on March 29 - even if we do manage to agree a deal.
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It's the first time one of the PM's inner circle has ever said that the Brexit date could be pushed back.
Mr Hunt told the BBC's Today programme that if Britain and the EU strike a Brexit deal in the near future.
But if it takes more than a month then the scheduled Leave date could be postponed to give Parliament more time to pass crucial legislation needed to give it legal effect.
Asked if there would be a delay, Mr Hunt said: "I think that depends on how long this process takes.
"It is true that if we ended up approving a deal in the days before March 29, then we might need some extra time to pass critical legislation.
"But if we're able to make progress sooner then that might not be necessary."
He added: "We're not in a position to know which of those scenarios will happen."
If we approved a deal in the days before March 29, we might need some extra time
Jeremy Hunt
Legal experts said this week that there is still time for Parliament to pass all the laws needed to put a Brexit deal into effect.
But they warned that the time is running out if a deal isn't signed off in the near future.
Despite the backlog, MPs aren't scheduled to hold any debate or votes on Brexit next week.
If there were a last-minute delay, it would be likely to last no more than a month or two.
But top Brexiteer Steve Baker blasted: "Any delay before a deal is secured would be a crass negotiating error."
Labour Remainer Rachel Reeves said: "Jeremy Hunt’s words just add to the impression that the Government do not know what they are doing and are staggering from crisis to crisis."
Tory backbench chief Sir Graham Brady told the BBC: "Once we've reached an agreement and we know the terms on which we're leaving, if we decide that we need another two weeks in order to finish the necessary legislation through Parliament."
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Mrs May yesterday refused to rule out a delay after being challenged directly at Prime Minister's Questions.
But efforts by Remainer MPs to impose a delay of up to nine months were defeated on Tuesday night.
Mr Hunt is today attending a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Romania where he will lobby them to accept Mrs May's demands to fix the Irish backstop in order to agree a Brexit deal.
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Jeremy Corbyn says he told the PM to take No Deal off the table in Brexit talks
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