The 27 countries that will remain in the EU after Brexit agreed on Monday to put off Brexit until the end of January with an earlier departure possible should the faction-ridden UK parliament ratify their separation deal. EU member states will need Britain to formally reply to its offer of a three-month delay before launching a “written procedure” whereby governments will have 24 hours to accept or reject. “We can only launch the written procedure when we have the agreement of the UK government on the text,” a senior EU official said. Johnson will respond to the EU’s delay offer once he has reviewed the details, his spokesman said on Monday. Two senior EU diplomats confirmed that the written procedure period agreed was 24 hours, effective from the time London accepts the offer of a Brexit delay from October 31 to January 31.

Source: The Express Tribune October 28, 2019 12:45 UTC