By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal
LONDON
More time may be needed for Brexit legislation, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Thursday, signaling a possible extension of process on Article 50, the section of the EU treaty governing Brexit.
"It is true that if we ended up approving the deal in the days before the 29 March [the day Britain is due to leave the EU], then we might need some extra time to pass critical legislation,” Hunt told the BBC.
He added: "But if we are able to make progress sooner, then that might not be necessary. We can't know at this stage exactly which of those scenarios would happen."
However, a statement from Downing Street challenged any extension to the Article 50 process, saying the Brexit date will be March 29.
"The fact that recess won't be taking place shows you that we are taking all available steps to make sure that 29 March is our exit date," a government spokesman said.
"The prime minister's position on this is unchanged -- we will be leaving on the 29th,” the statement added.
Also on Thursday, Commons leader Andrea Leadsome announced that British lawmakers will be expected to stay in session during the February recess, which was due to start Feb. 18.
Meaningful vote
After winning a series of crucial votes in the House of Commons this week, Prime Minister Theresa May is trying to start a renegotiation of her withdrawal agreement with EU leaders.
However, the EU officials have so far made clear that the deal, which was already rejected by British lawmakers, is not open for renegotiation.
On Tuesday, an amendment for Britain to seek “alternative arrangements” with the EU passed parliament by a vote of 317-301.
May afterward said there was a way to get a “substantial and sustainable majority in this House for leaving the EU with a deal.”
The amendment “requires the Northern Ireland backstop to be replaced with alternative arrangements to avoid a hard border, supports leaving the EU with a deal and would therefore support the withdrawal agreement subject to this change.”
May now has two weeks to convince the EU to replace the backstop with her “alternative arrangements,” which she so far has failed to reveal despite repeated calls to do so.
The EU and Ireland in separate statements said the deal, which was rejected by MPs in the House of Commons on Jan. 25, was agreed around the red lines of British government and no alteration will be possible.
Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney said on Wednesday that Ireland will not be threatened into abandoning the backstop arrangement for the Irish border.
The British parliament is expected to hold another “meaningful vote” on Feb. 14 on May’s supposedly altered deal after her negotiations with the EU.
Irish border and backstop
As the U.K. will leave the bloc, the border between Northern Ireland -- a U.K. territory -- and the Republic of Ireland will remain the only land border between the U.K. and the EU.
The border at the moment is invisible, and people, goods, and services can travel through it freely. But as the U.K. leaves the EU, the border, technically, will need some sort of checks.
Due to the sensitive nature of the region and because free passage is one of the crucial articles of the 1998 Belfast Agreement, the U.K., EU, Northern Ireland, and Ireland all reject the idea of returning to a hard border where checkpoints and customs buildings will need to be installed.
The border issue has been one of the thorniest in Brexit talks, as a solution that would be acceptable for all sides is still to be reached.
The main disagreement over the border issue has been over an EU-suggested backstop -- keeping Northern Ireland in the EU single market and customs union after Brexit until a solution is found -- because it would create a sort of a border within the U.K. in the Irish Sea.
May has repeatedly said they would not give in to any solution that would divide the U.K.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Northern Ireland’s biggest political party, has said it would not agree on any final deal that would separate Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K.
Therefore, May negotiated a backstop for the whole of the U.K. and the deal included this after an agreement was reached with the EU. However, the deal was rejected by lawmakers with a majority of 230 votes in a Jan. 15 vote.
The U.K. is set to leave the EU on Friday, March 29, unless the date is postponed.
