Theresa May poised to extend Article 50 beyond March to head off a no-deal Brexit

Theresa May is poised to ask the EU to delay Brexit after Tory MPs drew up an amendment to grant the Prime Minister more time in the negotiations.

Last night May caused more anger in the business community when she announced that she would in fact hold the meaningful vote on 12 March, just two weeks before the EU’s formal exit date, instead of this Wednesday as planned.

Conservative MP Simon Hart has drawn up an amendment that is due to be debated on Wednesday and would allow MPs to vote for a “strictly time limited” delay to Brexit until 23 May if there is no deal in place by 13 March.

A separate amendment proposed by Labour MP Yvette Cooper and Tory MP Oliver Letwin is also due to be debated on Wednesday, and would legally oblige the government to offer MPs the option of extending Article 50 – the mechanism by which the UK leaves the EU – beyond 29 March.

May was forced to deny over the weekend that collective Cabinet responsibility had broken down after Amber Rudd, David Gauke and Greg Clark all publicly stated that they would back the Cooper amendment to avoid the chance of the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal.

According to the FT, Hart’s proposal is winning round Tory backbenchers who have been tempted by the Cooper amendment but were concerned about taking power away from the government.

Under Hart’s plan, no new law would need to be passed to extend Article 50.

In an email to the Brexit Delivery Group, made up of Tory MPs who want negotiated exit from the EU, Hart said his proposal “could offer some colleagues who have indicated they might support Letwin-Cooper a way out, whilst also removing the danger of a crashing out at the end of March without a deal”.

In seeking to avoid the “constitutional upheaval” of the Cooper amendment the plan is likely to be more palatable to Downing Street.

This morning defence minister Tobias Ellwood hinted that May, who is currently in the Egyptian city of Sharm El Sheikh for the EU Arab League summit, could propose an extension to Article 50 to EU leaders.

Failing that, he said he would be “tempted” to vote for a delay to Brexit, telling the BBC that “I don’t support the idea that we go ahead towards no deal”.

May is due to update the Commons on the Brexit negotiations tomorrow following her return from Egypt.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said today that there had been a  "good, constructive" meeting with May on the sidelines of the summit, while Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said he thought there would be an extension to Article 50 if no deal was agreed between the UK and EU by March.