DINARD: British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt on Friday said neither Britain nor other European Union member states wanted a no-deal Brexit and that economies in the bloc were not growing fast enough to stave off a recession in such an event.

“A no-deal outcome is bad for the UK. It’s also very bad for the European Union,” Hunt said at an event on the sidelines of a G7 foreign ministers meeting in the French coastal town of Dinard.

“None of our economies are growing fast enough to guarantee that a no-deal scenario wouldn’t push us into a recession. So it’s a bad outcome all round.”

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday again sought to delay Brexit until June 30 to avoid a chaotic withdrawal from the European Union in one week, although a key leader of the bloc suggested an even longer pause in the difficult divorce proceedings.

The question over timing is vital because Britain is set to leave the EU without a withdrawal deal in place on April 12 unless an agreement is reached at a Brussels summit set to take place two days earlier.

In a letter to European Council President Donald Tusk, May asked for an extension until the end of June and agreed to make contingency plans to take part in European Parliament elections on May 23-26 if necessary.

An earlier British request for a delay until June 30 was rejected last month, amid rising irritation from EU leaders about the political chaos in London.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2019