Possible Brexit Delay To Avoid Hard Border

The UK's transition out of the EU may be extended to avoid the possibility of a hard border in Northern Ireland, Prime Minister Theresa May has said.

The UK is due to leave the EU in March 2019, and the transition period was initially planned to finish at the end of 2020.

Some Tory MPs and Brexit campaigners have expressed their anger at the idea of the UK being tied to EU rules for longer.

The announcement comes after Wednesday's summit of EU leaders in Brussels failed to make decisive progress in reaching an agreement.

Mrs May addressed her 27 European counterparts, urging them to give ground and end the current Brexit deadlock.

Speaking on Thursday morning, Mrs May said the UK had already put forward a proposal to avoid the need for a hard border or a customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

She said: "A further idea has emerged - and it is an idea at this stage - to create an option to extend the implementation period for a matter of months- and it would only be a matter of months."

The transition period is designed to smooth the path to a future permanent relationship, allowing the UK's relationship with the EU to stay the same for a while, after it's official exit.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said a longer transition period is not a substitute for a concrete agreement over the backstop.

But he does believe the idea has some merit, adding, "if it did help to reassure people that the backstop would never be activated, that would be a positive thing."



(JG/MH)