UK Parliament Committee Report Wants to Delay Brexit Deadline

In Britain, a parliamentary committee made up with members from both the government Tory party and the opposition Labour party has released a new report asking the government to consider a "limited extension" of the Brexit deadline should key issues not be dealt with in time. The committee's chair, Mr Hillary Benn of the opposition Labour party said "credible, detailed proposals" need to be put forward now.

Brexiteers have slammed the report as non-credible.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Staying in the Customs Union or Single Market would make us a vassal state <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/remoanathon?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#remoanathon</a></p>&mdash; Jacob Rees-Mogg (@Jacob_Rees_Mogg) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jacob_Rees_Mogg/status/975160394795880450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2018</a></blockquote>

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The committee report stated that: "If substantial aspects of the future partnership remain to be agreed in October 2018, the government should seek a limited extension to the Article 50 time."

Mr Benn, who chairs the committee, explained that issues like the Irish border will definitely need more time and therefore Brexit should not undermine the island's peace: "The government must now come forward with credible, detailed proposals as to how it can operate a 'frictionless border' between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland."

"We know of no international border, other than the internal borders of the EU, that operates without checks and physical infrastructure. This is deeply concerning."

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Members of the committee that rejected the report’s conclusions said that delaying Brexit would leave the UK at the mercy of the EU and claimed that the deadline should be respected instead.

Conservative lawmaker Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg: "Extending Article 50 and the transition period delays our departure potentially indefinitely."

"Staying in the customs union or single market would make us a vassal state."

Meanwhile, Brexiteer Mr Matthew Elliott slammed the report, saying: “Yes, a majority of members back the report, but people should really take these reports seriously when they’re unanimously agreed by all the members, from all the parties, from all sides of the debate. This was essentially the view of a certain number of the members of the Committee, basically the ones who back the Remain campaign.”

“So saw it as quite a partisan report on the part of Hillary Benn. I think that Mr Benn is being overly pessimistic about the situation.”

Source:

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/933508/Brexit-news-latest-Brexit-Committee-report-Hilary-Benn-Matthew-Elliott-hard-deadline