The president of the European Council has said he is open to a “long” delay to Brexit if the UK needs time to rethink its strategy to leaving the bloc.

Hours ahead of a parliamentary vote on whether the UK should seek an Article 50 extension Donald Tusk said he would encourage EU member states to back a delay if the UK needed time to “build consensus” around a new approach.

The comments come after repeated failed attempts by Theresa May to pass her Brexit deal and a slew of government defeats on how to resolve the political crisis.

“During my consultations ahead of European Council, I will appeal to the EU27 to be open to a long extension if the UK finds it necessary to rethink its Brexit strategy and build consensus around it,” Mr Tusk said on Thursday morning.

The Government on Wednesday proposed a short extension to the Brexit deadline to 30 June, to buy it time to pass the necessary legislation for exit. Such an extension would likely be required even if MPs back Ms May’s Brexit deal in a third meaningful vote next week.

Any extension needs the unanimous consent of EU member states, and some are more positive about a delay than others. French president Emmanuel Macron has said he would veto and extension to Article 50 that was not based on a “a new choice of the British” and which had “a clear objective”.

The EU leaders will consider the situation at a regular meeting of the European Council in Brussels, which is scheduled for Thursday and Friday next week.

Mr Tusk is not the first EU figure to speak of a longer extension: last month Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar said he would rather see a "long extension" than the UK leave without a deal, suggesting that political problems caused by one would be "a small complication relative" to the UK crashing out.

A longer extension could also raise the hopes of second referendum campaigners. Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš spoke to Theresa May at the weekend to tell her to hold another vote, and to support Remain in it.

One complicating factor for any significant extension is that the UK would, according to EU treaties, have to participate in European Parliament elections scheduled for May if is still in the bloc. Though the Electoral Commission has made contingency plans for this possibility, it would be disruptive to both the UK and EU sides.

Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Show all 12 1 /12 Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Derry, Londonderry A garage door displaying unionism, bolted shut, like a visual representation of Brexit Britain, locked to outsiders, safeguarding what’s inside Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Derry, Londonderry Rossville Street, the site of Bloody Sunday, where messages demand a severance with England. From this perspective, Britain is England in sheep’s clothing, the real empire, the centre of colonial power Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Bangor A political message in paint not yet dry, still forming, setting, adjusting, or in old paint finally eroding, melting away Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Bangor Moral judgement frames a residential view. The message seeks to make everybody involved in the religious narrative: those who don’t believe are those most in debt Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Castlerock The beach is sparse and almost empty, but covered in footprints. The shower is designed to wash off sand, and a mysterious border cuts a divide through the same sand Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Belfast Two attempts to affect and care for the body. One stimulated by vanity and social norms and narratives of beauty, the other by a need to keep warm in the winter night Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Belfast The gate to an unclaimed piece of land, where nothing is being built, where no project is in the making, where a sign demands the creation of something new Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Derry, Londonderry Under a motorway bridge a woman’s face stares, auburn and red-lipped, her skin tattooed with support for the IRA and a message of hostility to advocates of the Social Investment Fund Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Derry, Londonderry The Fountain Murals, where the curbs and the lampposts are painted the red, white, and blue of the Union Flag. A boy walks past in the same colours, fitting the scene, camouflaged Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Coleraine A public slandering by the football fields, for all to see or ignore. I wonder if it’s for the police or for the community Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Belfast A tattoo parlour, where the artist has downed tools, momentarily, bringing poise to the scene, which looks like a place of mourning, not a site of creation Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Derry, Londonderry A barrier of grey protects the contents of this shop, guarding it from the streets outside, but it cannot conceal it completely, and the colours of lust and desire and temptation cut through Richard Morgan/The Independent

Michel Barnier, the European Commission’s chief negotiator yesterday questioned the point of an extension, telling MEPs in the European Parliament: “Why would we extend these discussions? The discussion on Article 50, that is done and dusted. We have the withdrawal agreement, it is there. That is the question asked and we are waiting for the answer to that.”