European Union leaders and UK Prime Minister Theresa May agreed on Thursday to a short delay on Brexit with two options before Britain.
May now faces the task of convincing British lawmakers to approve the withdrawal deal to ensure an orderly exit from the bloc. Before the meeting in Brussels, the prime minister had said that the UK would want to set the departure date to June 30. Now, she has been given two options.
If the UK parliament approves the deal, the Brexit deadline would be set to May 22. However, if May does not receive the backing of UK lawmakers, Brexit will happen on April 12, unless the UK decides to take part in the European parliamentary elections which is taking place from May 23 to 26.
May had reiterated that the UK will not take part in the European parliamentary elections in order to honour the voters who voted to leave the EU in a 2016 referendum. She said that it would be wrong to ask the people to vote in the EU elections when they have decided to leave the bloc.
EU Council president and summit host Donald Tusk said that a further extension will be impossible if the vote is not organised.
Meanwhile, a petition on the UK parliament's website has gather over two million signatures calling for Brexit to be stopped. The 'Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU petition' has been gathering steam in social media and more people are signing it to revoke Brexit.
