Brussels planning to delay Brexit AGAIN if new PM tries to go for No Deal

BRUSSELS is preparing for the possibility of multiple extensions of the Brexit deadline if a new PM disowns Theresa May's deal.

European leaders fear Boris Johnson or Dominic Raab will try to tear up the withdrawal agreement but fail to force through a No Deal exit, prolonging the chaos.

Capitals don't want to take the blame for a crash-out, so are likely to grant more delays until a General Election or second referendum forces the issue.

Diplomats said hopes of creating a crunch moment in the Commons by putting Britain's "back to the wall" have been dented by Mrs May's departure.

Emmanuel Macron and Michel Barnier have argued vociferously in favour of such an approach at previous summits, but other leaders disagreed.

Leo Varadkar and Angela Merkel in particular have pitched strongly in favour of giving the UK more time to overcome its domestic political chaos.

A senior EU diplomat told The Sun: "It's very important that No Deal is always the UK's choice, and never the EU27's one.

"France didn't want a short extension because they wanted No Deal, they wanted to force the British political system to come up with something."

They added: "It's clear we'll extend further until the political landscape in the UK changes, because I don't see the deal will be miraculously adopted.

"The new PM doesn't have any ownership of the deal so the withdrawal agreement seems to be off the table.

"But similarly No Deal is off the table so the only solution is extensions until something changes in the UK."

BOJO VOW

They pointed out that further delays to our exit would leave the bloc with unexpected extra cash to spend during its next budgetary period.

Any further delay to our exit date would have to be requested by the British PM and cannot be imposed by the EU.

Boris Johnson has already vowed that the UK will quit the bloc on October 31 "deal or No Deal" if he's in Downing Street.

Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker yesterday warned him the EU had been "crystal clear there will be no renegotiation" of the backstop.

And Dutch PM Mark Rutte urged the next PM to rip up Mrs May's approach, asking: "If the red lines are still there, what can a new PM do?”

MEPs' Brexit chief Guy Verhofstadt added: "The withdrawal agreement is the Withdrawal Agreement. We don’t want to negotiate it."

EU diplomats believe the Tory frontrunner will come to regret his remarks if he does win the race for No10 and that he can't deliver on No Deal.

One said: "One good thing about Boris being PM is he can't use this formula as PM like he did on the campaign trail.

"It's not at all realistic to renegotiate the deal. The parameters aren't changing for us."

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