The Latest on Britain’s exit from the European Union (all times local):
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11:50 a.m.
Poland’s prime minister says the European Union is open to further extending Britain’s departure from the bloc if British lawmakers reject the withdrawal deal for the third time.
Premier Mateusz Morawiecki was speaking to reporters Friday after talks with EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.
Morawiecki said that in case Friday’s vote in the House of Commons fails, the EU is “open to extending the departure process” on a motion from London, by “six or nine or 12 months, these options are available.”
He said the EU would best like Britain to stay, or at least leave in an orderly way.
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Barnier is expected to deliver a speech on “Europe after Brexit” at Warsaw’s College of Europe later Friday.
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9 a.m.
On the day that Britain was originally scheduled to leave the European Union, lawmakers are facing what Theresa May’s government describes as the “last chance to vote for Brexit.”
Friday’s parliamentary vote is on only part of the deal that Prime Minister Theresa May negotiated with the EU, in a bid by May to blunt the opposition that has already forced her to ask for an extension.
International Trade Secretary Liam Fox told the BBC that people will wonder why Parliament hasn’t lived up to its commitment to abide by voters’ decision to leave the EU.
Fox says: “It is, in fact, really, the last chance we have to vote for Brexit as we understood it today. … I think all MPs will have to reflect today who are the masters and who are the servants in our democratic process.”
