LONDON (AP) - The Latest on Britain’s plans to leave the European Union (all times local):
10:15 a.m.
A German official says if Britain is granted more time to decide on Brexit, the delay needs to be used productively.
Justice Minister Katarina Barley, who is half-British, told RBB radio Friday that “giving more time alone will produce no solution.”
She says “I think the EU would be willing to give more time, but there must be some sort of a plan what should happen in this time.”
Barley, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s junior coalition partner Social Democrats who is the party’s lead candidate for European Parliament, added it makes no sense for Britain to participate in May European elections.
She says “politically it is somewhat absurd for a country that was supposed to already be out to take part in the vote for the whole institution.”
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9:35 a.m.
British Prime Minister Theresa May is working to pull off an against-the-odds rescue for her European Union divorce deal, after Parliament voted to postpone Brexit to avert a chaotic U.K. departure in two weeks.
May will spend Friday and the weekend trying to persuade opponents to support the withdrawal agreement, which Parliament has resoundingly defeated twice. That left Britain facing a disruptive “no-deal” exit on March 29, when a two-year countdown to departure runs out.
After months of deadlock over Brexit, the House of Commons voted Thursday to ask the EU to delay Britain’s exit.
May hopes to win approval for her deal next week, then seek a delay until June 30. If it is rejected she says Britain will need a longer extension, which could see Brexit postponed indefinitely.
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