MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th September, 2018) UK Prime Minister Theresa May said that any delays in the talks with the European Union on the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the bloc were "not an option."
"We all recognize that time is short but delaying or extending these negotiations is not an option ... I know that for many of you Brexit is not something you want but it's important to be clear there will be no second referendum in the UK ... The public has delivered its verdict and I as Prime Minister will deliver upon that - the UK will leave on the 29th of March next year," May told the leaders of other 27 EU member states at their informal meeting in the Austrian city of Salzburg late on Wednesday, as quoted by the Daily Express newspaper.
The outlet added that the prime minister had pressed for the Brexit deal to be reached by November.
May emphasized that the proposals on the future EU-UK relations under the so-called Chequers plan that she had suggested were "serious and workable."
"We will of course not agree on every detail but hopefully you will respond in kind ... The onus is now on all of us to get this deal done," the UK prime minister added.
The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in a referendum in 2016, but the vote left the country divided almost equally into Remainers and Brexiteers. The Brexit negotiations officially kicked off in June 2017 and are expected to be completed by the end of March 2019.
May has recently been facing criticism both inside and outside the United Kingdom over her way of dealing with the Brexit process amid the possibility of a no-deal scenario and the Brexit process extension beyond March 2019, voiced by many UK and EU politicians.
