Donald Tusk to recommend leaders accept UK request for extension

European Council President Donald Tusk said he would recommend that European leaders accept the United Kindom's request for a Brexit extension after a crucial vote in the UK Parliament made it unlikely the country could leave the EU by October 31.

“Following PM Boris Johnson’s decision to pause the process of ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement, and in order to avoid a no-deal Brexit, I will recommend the EU27 accept the UK request for an extension. For this I will propose a written procedure,” Tusk has tweeted.

British MPs voted on Tuesday evening in favour of advancing Brexit legislation to the next stage in Parliament but rejected the government's accelerated timeline for the bill that would have it pass through the House of Commons by Thursday.

Johnson said he would pause the Brexit legislation and said the EU must decide how to make up their minds on the extension.