Angela Merkel has asked Theresa May if she intends to request an extension to article 50 after reports that No 10 has drawn up contingency plans to delay leaving the EU.
A government official confirmed that Merkel “fleetingly” raised the matter at a 45-minute breakfast meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday morning, in a reflection of growing concern from European Union leaders over the lack of time to implement Brexit.
Asked if the topic of a possible two-month delay was raised, the official said: “It wasn’t something that the PM raised. The position is that it is not something she [the PM] wants to do and she believes it just defers difficult decisions.”
“They did discuss Brexit, they discussed UK parliament, things that have been happening in UK parliament, things that are happening this week. They spent a decent amount of time talking about foreign policy as well as Brexit.”
The official said the issue of extending article 50 came up “fleetingly”, but insisted “it really wasn’t a focus”.
According to Monday’s Daily Telegraph, Downing Street officials have drawn up a series of options in a bid to avoid resignations by ministers determined to support a backbench bid to take no deal off the table this week.
Asked if the story was true, a government official said they did not discuss advice given by officials.
The prime minister is also meeting the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, and the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, on Monday as part of her talks with EU leaders in Egypt, a…
