Brexit delay should be for ‘as long as necessary’ to agree deal, John McDonnell says

John McDonnell - Image credit: Isabel Infantes/EMPICS Entertainment

John McDonnell has said he would be prepared to accept a delay to Brexit for "as long as necessary" in order to strike a deal with the EU.

The Shadow Chancellor said he would be willing to delay the process indefinitely but claimed that Labour’s Brexit plan could win agreement in a “matter of weeks”.

In February, Theresa May said she would seek a “short delay” if MPs rejected both her deal and the prospect of a no-deal Brexit in a series of Commons votes.

She said the “one-off” extension could last no longer than the end of June to ensure the UK was not forced to take part in the European elections.

But asked how long he thought the extension should last, McDonnell told The Andrew Marr Show the delay should last: “As long as necessary.”

He added: “I think, myself, we could agree Labour’s deal in a matter of weeks.

“The European Union has looked positively on that and in all the discussions they have seen that as the foundation for a proper discussion, and to be frank, that is what the Prime Minister should have done two years ago.”

But Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer said that a three month delay would be “doable”.

"The first thing I say is that this is not a policy of choice, nobody has been championing an extension," he told Sky's Sophie Ridge.

"It is now necessary because of the situation we now find ourselves in.

“In my discussions with Brussels, it seemed an extension or a delay of about three months is probably do-able. Beyond that becomes much more difficult."

Speaking last month, French President Emmanuel Macron threatened to veto any extension which did not have a “clear objective” to it.

But in a softening of the party’s backing for a public vote on Brexit, McDonnell said his party would be seeking to “do everything we possibly can” in Parliament to halt both the Prime Minister’s deal and a no-deal outcome before they would consider a second vote.

“What we’ve said and I voted for it, is I want to see our deal go through parliament," he said.

"At least that would protect us from what Theresa May is putting forward, which would damage my constituents and would damage the economy and threaten he jobs to be right the way around the country.

“At least that would prevent a no-deal, and I think… we have to do everything we possibly can at the moment to end those two options.

If we close those down, then we are into a wider debate, but as I say, if parliament can’t then come to a conclusion then that option of going back for some sort of confirmatory vote or going back to the people is still there, because I can’t see a way of breaking the logjam.”