[3] During 2019, the UK Parliament debated whether to accept the Theresa May government's negotiated settlement, to leave the EU without an agreement, or to abandon Brexit.

In July, the newly assembled Boris Johnson ministry declared its intention to re-open negotiations on the withdrawal agreement, with the Irish backstop removed as a pre-condition.

[5][6] In October 2019, following bilateral talks between Johnson and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar,[7] the UK and EU agreed to a revised deal, which replaced the backstop.

[22][23] On 2 February 2019, the Prime Minister announced during a meeting in Brussels that the Leader of the Opposition had agreed to back a Brexit agreement which ensures that the Irish border backstop was not permanent.

[24][25] On 7 February 2019, May held another meeting in Brussels and it was agreed that more talks would occur by the end of the month,[26][27] despite the fact Juncker repeated previous claims that the EU would not reopen negotiations.

[31][32] Following negotiations between May and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker in Strasbourg, France, they announced on 11 March 2019 a new agreement who gave legally binding reassurances of the temporary nature of the proposed backstop.

On 18 March, the speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, announced that Parliamentary procedure prevented the government from bringing substantially the same Withdrawal Agreement to vote again in the same legislative session.

[45] In a speech in Downing St on 20 March, May told the public she was "on their side", saying "Parliament has done everything possible to avoid making a choice," said Mrs May.

"[46] She proceeded to request an extension until 30 June at the European Council, hoping that her deal could still be passed before 29 March, after the conclusion of the EU summit.

[47][48] On 21 March, the European Council (in EU27 composition) endorsed the Instrument relating to the withdrawal agreement and the joint statement supplementing the political declaration.

If this third meaningful vote succeeded, the EU would grant the UK an extension until 22 May (the day before the European elections on 23–26 May), to prepare for an orderly withdrawal.

The UK is expected to forward her position to the EU27 in advance, to give the twenty-seven member states enough time to formulate their response ahead of the summit.

[52] If this new plan were to involve a long extension, beyond 30 June, the British would be required to participate in the European elections; and the House of Commons would have to make that decision on or before 12 April.

[53] Following a cabinet meeting the next day, Prime Minister May called for a bipartisan agreement on changes to the Political Declaration governing the future relationship; a move welcomed by Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn.

This would mark the first time in the whole Brexit process that the Prime Minister would consider either bipartisan agreements or Parliamentary votes as a binding mandate.

Such a "flextension" would require (preparations for) UK participation in the European elections, but could be annulled at any time, once the withdrawal agreement had been ratified.

Given that the withdrawal agreement is unlikely to pass the House of Commons any time soon, according to Tusk, a short extension would only create a never-ending series of delays, cliff-edges and emergency summits.

But in the case of a no-deal Brexit, the UK would first have to accept the three demands of the EU27 which have been at the heart of the negotiations to the Withdrawal Agreement: the budget contributions, the citizens' rights and the Irish border.

French president Emmanuel Macron seemed particularly sceptical about the prospect of a longer extension, partly driven by fear that the ongoing Brexit negotiations would divert attention away from his ambitious plans for further European integration, and give the UK the possibility to try and veto this reform agenda.

31 October as the new exit date erases the need to appoint a new British Commissioner, and excludes the UK from participation in the drafting of new legislative proposals, since the next European Commission is scheduled to take office on 1 November 2019.

[64][65][66] On 14 May 2019, Theresa May's government announced that the House of Commons would vote on the Withdrawal Agreement for the fourth time in the week commencing 3 June 2019.

[68] On 21 May 2019, prime minister May announced a couple of concessions, hoping that these would persuade enough MP's, from both Tory and Labour, to back the Withdrawal Agreement.

He advocated removing the Irish backstop from any Withdrawal Agreement and replacing it with "alternative arrangements", and promised to withhold the £39 billion "divorce payment" (previously agreed contributions and pension commitments) "until greater clarity emerges".

[75] However, almost immediately after his royal appointment as Prime Minister on 24 July 2019, EU officials reiterated once more that the Withdrawal Agreement, including the backstop, could not be renegotiated; only the Political Declaration could be amended, if Johnson's government were to formulate a new position on the future relationship.

On the advice of the Privy Council, Queen Elizabeth II granted this request,[79] despite fierce criticism by opposition parties, some Tory MP's, constitutional experts, protesters and Speaker John Bercow.

Given this short time-span, Johnson's Parliamentary and extra-Parliamentary opponents suspected its primary purpose was to prevent Parliament from stopping a no-deal Brexit.

[80] MPs opposed to no-deal had been trying to coordinate their actions, which would take the form of either legislation requiring the Prime Minister to request a third extension at the European Council, or a motion of no confidence in the government.

On 4 October the Government assured the highest civil court in Scotland that Johnson would send a letter to the EU seeking an extension to Article 50 as required by the European Union (Withdrawal) (No.

[90] On 10 October, Johnson and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar held "very positive and very promising" talks that led to a resumption in negotiations,[91] and a week later, on 17 October, Johnson and Jean-Claude Juncker announced that they had reached agreement (subject to ratification) on a new Withdrawal Agreement which replaced the backstop with a new protocol on Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland.

Prior to the votes, Johnson had stated that if his timetable failed to generate the support needed to pass in Parliament he would abandon attempts to get the deal approved and would seek a general election.