Brexit news - LIVE: EU leaders unanimously agree to give UK unconditional ‘flextension’ if it approves withdrawal agreement next week
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Theresa May’s request to extend triggering Article 50 until the end of June was rejected by the EU, which instead offered a shorter time frame.
Ms May has now accepted the offer of a delay until May 22 if her withdrawal deal is approved by Parliament.
If MPs reject it for a third time, the EU says Britain must propose a new plan by April 12.
The result of this would either be a much longer delay or crashing out of the EU without a deal.
Ms May said she will not support a long delay because it would mean Britain participating in elections for the European Parliament.
Here’s how events unfolded:
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On the decision of Jeremy Corbyn to leave a meeting last night in the Commons with the prime minister - due to the presence of The Independent Group - Labour Party chairman Ian Lavery said at the party's local election launch: "You might perhaps wish to say that Jeremy was juvenile, but what I would say is that Jeremy had agreed with the PM the certain criteria... she broke the agreement immediately.
"Jeremy spoke to Theresa May almost immediately after the meeting last night.
"There was a lengthy conversation - Jeremy put a whole number of points to Theresa May.
"The reality is Jeremy is trying to resolve this in the best interests of everybody - not just the 48 per cent not just the 52 per cent - we need to get together, we need to get rid of this horrible hatred and this toxic nature right through our communities - that's what Jeremy is doing.
"To call him juvenile is widely inaccurate, and I'm being extremely polite."
Theresa May has now arrived in Brussels - speaking to reporters at the entrance, she makes clear she will be asking for a short extension to Article 50.
The prime minister also avoided questions of whether she would pursue a no-deal scenario if her deal failed once again in the Commons, and only a long extension, beyond 30 June, was possible.
"What is important is that parliament delivers on the result of the referendum - I still hope we can do that with a deal," she said.
"What matters is that we recognise Brexit is the decision of the British people... it is now the time for parliament to decide."
"A short extension gives us that opportunity to decide to leave the European Union, to deliver on that result of that referendum and I sincerely hope that will be with a negotiated deal."
After meeting Theresa May, Independent Group MP Anna Soubry suggests the prime minister is now prepared to take Britain out of the EU without a deal..
NEW: Jeremy Corbyn has refused to rule out revoking Article 50
Arriving at the European Council summit in Brussels, Latvian prime minister Krisjanis Karins says that if MPs reject Theresa May's deal again next week, they will have to choose between revoking Article 50 or leaving with no deal.
He says:
"If the UK is leaving we would want that to be an orderly process so there has been a Withdrawal Agreement agreed over a two-year period - I don't see any chance of changing that.
"So the question is will the UK accept this agreement and then it will be an orderly withdrawal? No-one wants a chaotic withdrawal."
Asked what would happen if the deal is rejected, Mr Karins said:
"There are then two alternatives: either Great Britain withdraws Article 50 and stays in the European Union or there is a disorderly withdrawal."
Arriving at the Brussels summit, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said: "Prime Minister Theresa May has asked, in the case of a positive vote in the British Parliament, for a purely technical extension.
"I am quite open to a technical extension - it should be as short as possible - in the case of a positive vote.
"The exit process has taken two years of negotiation. It cannot be renegotiated."
"In the case of a negative vote in the British Parliament, we will be going to a no-deal," he added. "We all know that."
"It is absolutely essential to be clear in these days and these moments, because it is a matter of the good functioning of the EU. We cannot have what I would call an excessive extension which would harm our capacity to decision and to act."
He added: "If there is a postponement, it can only be a technical one.
"No extension to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement... No extension if there is not a clear majority to provide a mandate for the future relationship.
"Therefore, there needs to be a profound political change if there is to be an extension which is anything other than technical.
"But it is up to Britain to tell us."
*
Also arriving at the EU summit, the German chancellor Angela Merkel said: "To the last hour, we must do everything to ensure that there can be an orderly British exit from the EU."
Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable, who is also in the EU capital, told The Independent that he would prefer a new referendum to revoking Article 50, but that MPs "may" have go ahead with it as a last resort.
“It’s a last resort. We prefer a referendum than revocation," he said.
"But if that isn’t possible, parliamentarians may need to revoke article 50 in order to protect the country from no deal.”
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