British PM May climbs back onto her Brexit bulldozer

After Mrs May on Wednesday ruled out anything but a short delay to Brexit, on Thursday morning (AEDT) she threw down the gauntlet to her parliament, accusing MPs of "infighting, political games and arcane procedural rows", and "avoiding making a choice".

She said the public wanted this stage of Brexit "over and done with", and "it is high time we made a decision". She vowed to press on with trying to get MPs behind her hugely disliked withdrawal agreement, and wouldn't countenance any delay to Brexit beyond June 30.

EU leaders look set to accept that her breathtaking brinkmanship is the only way forward, with European Council President Donald Tusk saying earlier on Thursday (AEDT) that they'll grant a short Brexit delay only if Britain's fractious parliament backs Mrs May's deal.

Mrs May and the 27 EU leaders will meet in Brussels early on Friday (AEDT) to discuss her request for a short 'Brextension', which would allow her to pass legislation implementing the withdrawal agreement if her MPs approve the deal next week at the third attempt.

"A short extension will be possible. But it will be conditional on a postiive vote on the withdrawal agreement in the House of Commons," Mr Tusk told reporters. "The question remains open as to the duration of such an extension."

But Mr Tusk acknowledged that it's far from clear Mrs May can get her deal passed, as many MPs look ready to oppose it yet again after rejecting it twice by a wide margin.

"Even if the hope for final success may seem frail, even illusory, and although Brexit fatigue is increasingly visible and justified, we cannot give up seeking until the last moment a positive solution," Mr Tusk said.

Mrs May, meanwhile, now seems ready to put her leadership on the line.

"As Prime Minister, I could not consider a delay beyond June 30,"  she told MPs at Prime Minister's Questions late on Wednesday (AEDT) - a form of words that triggered speculation she may resign if her parliament somehow forces a longer Brexit delay.

She then turned up the temperature, accusing MPs on all sides of "navel-gazing" and said parliament had "indulged itself on Europe for too long".

If parliament and the EU fall into line behind Mrs May's deal at the third time of asking, then Britain heads into a Brexit transition period in May or June in a relatively orderly way.

"Her entire strategy is to keep asking MPs the same qustion, when nothing has changed, and hope that they'll change their minds," said Alastair Campbell, a second-referendum campaigner who served as Tony Blair's chief spin doctor.

But if parliament again rejects her deal, perhaps with just a day to spare, the question becomes whether there is any procedural trick that either Mrs May or MPs can use to avoid the legal default of crashing out with no deal on March 29.

Chuka Umunna, a pro-EU lawmaker who recently left the Labour Party to sit as an independent, met Mrs May on Thursday (AEDT) and afterwards said it was "clear that the PM will not stop no deal if we are facing the cliff-edge next week".

And a cliff-edge it could be: there is little sign at this stage that Mrs May can rustle up the numbers for her deal, with at least two dozen hard-core eurosceptics in her own party determined to oppose it.

"My colleagues are as solid as they've ever been against it," leading eurosceptic Tory MP Mark Francois told the BBC. "we know that it means we don't really leave the EU, because of the backstop."

So her only hope is that at the very last minute, Labour and the other opposition parties will swing behind her to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

But there's no sign of that yet, and Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn is very keen not to be held in any way responsible for Mrs May's Brexit.

Instead, opposition MPs and europhile Tories will seek a way to bypass Mrs May and hold votes on alternative options, such as a second referendum or a softer Brexit.

But there may still be no majority for any alternative, and by the time of those votes it may be too late to change course.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker signalled on Wednesday that EU leaders may have to hold an emergency summit next week if there is a dramatic change of course at a minute to midnight.

Mr Tusk said he didn't think this was necessary but he didn't rule it out - suggesting there may still even be scope for EU leaders to reconvene and agree a much longer Brexit delay, to completely rethink the whole process.

The increasing tension came as a new YouGov opinion poll conducted on March 19 found that 52 per cent of people want a Brextension, while 35 per cent say Britain should leave next with no deal.

Of the 52 per cent favouring an extension, 10 per cent want a short delay and 42 per cent prefer a longer one.

"The specific request the Prime Minister is putting to the EU is not one that is backed by anything more than a small minority of the British public," said YouGov founder Peter Kellner.

The poll showed that 56 per cent of people want another referendum. But Mr Kellner said the public was increasingly polarised on Brexit, and - like parliament - was showing little appetite for compromise. Mrs May vigorously rejected a second referendum early on Friday (AEDT).

Meanwhile, a SkyData poll found that 36 per cent of people blame Mrs May for the Brexit fiasco, 26 per cent point the finger at MPs, 7 per cent are irate at the EU, while 24 per cent blame all of them equally.