EU refuses another short extension

Juncker rejects May appeal for a further short Brexit delay

This is absolutely in line with what she was told in March.

May and the Parliament continue to deceive themselves that they can just make up options to suit themselves.

But the alternatives remain just what they were told when the date got moved back from March to April.

They can agree on May's deal, they can crash out with no deal on the 12th, or they can ask for a much longer delay, a delay that would require them to take part in the elections to the European Parliament.

Talk of anything else is delusional.

Theresa May’s appeal for a short Brexit extension has been rejected by Jean-Claude Juncker, who said that unless the withdrawal deal was passed within nine days the UK would crash out of the EU or have to sign up to a long delay.

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Speaking to the European parliament, Juncker instead set an “ultimate deadline” of 12 April for the Commons to approve the withdrawal agreement.

“If it has not done so by then, no further short extension will be possible,” he said. 

“After 12 April, we risk jeopardising the European parliament elections, and so threaten the functioning of the European Union.”

Juncker said that at that point the UK would face a no-deal Brexit but that the EU would not “kick out” a member state, in a reference to the certain offer of a lengthy extension of article 50.

The EU27 is looking at an extension until at least the end of the year, with the most probable end date being the end of March 2020.