As EU27 took control of Brexit timetable, they found it easy to agree only that there was ‘no ideal date’

'It was not clear if she had a plan at all': how May's night at the summit unfolded

Theresa May usually gets less than an hour to explain her Brexit plans to EU27 leaders at regular summits. Finally, with only eight days to go until the original deadline, the British prime minister was granted a full 90 minutes in the multicoloured summit room in the Europa headquarters. For the EU, it was not time well spent.

“It was 90 minutes of nothing,” one EU source said. “She didn’t even give clarity if she is organising a vote. Asked three times what she would do if she lost the vote, she couldn’t say. It was fucking awful. Dreadful. Evasive even by her standards.”

About a dozen EU leaders peppered the British prime minister with questions. Did she have a plan B? How was she going to gain a majority? When would she hold the Commons vote? “She very much dodged these questions,” a second EU source said. A third source said: “She was not convincing. It was not clear if she had a plan B; it was not clear if she had a plan at all.”

May knew the EU’s patience was at breaking point. In case she needed a reminder, Luxembourg’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel, had said Brexit was like waiting for Godot “and Godot is never coming”. Over coffee and biscuits, she thanked EU leaders for their patience and said it would be helpful if the UK could delay Brexit until 30 June.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Theresa May is greeted by the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker. Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Once she had left the room, leaders vented their frustrations. “Maybe we should just let them go,” Bettel said, a remark made more in frustration than in earnest, according to one observer. France’s Emmanuel Macron said the May’s presentation had led him to downgrade his prognosis of the deal passing in Westminster from 10% to 5%. Donald Tusk, the European council president, replied: “You are very optimistic.”

Even Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, surprised the table with a rare intervention on Brexit. “This is pretty grim,” he said, adding that he had lived in the UK during Margaret Thatcher’s government and seen that “all Conservative party leaders care about is the Conservative party”.

Germany’s Angela Merkel responded: “Viktor is right, this is really serious.” Another EU leader said the UK needed to be taken care of “like a patient”.

Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) EU27 responds to UK requests in a positive spirit and:

👉 agrees to Art. 50 extension until 22 May if Withdrawal Agreement approved next week

👉 if not agreed next week then extension until 12 April

👉 approves ‘Strasbourg Agreement’

👉 continues no-deal preparations

Each leader was handed a white A4 envelope containing the draft decision on the Brexit extension – one copy in English, one copy in their own language.

And then the real talks began. In previous summits it had been easy: EU leaders signed off prepared conclusions in a minute with a round of applause. Soon it became clear this would not happen. Unconvinced by May’s hopes of winning the meaningful vote, EU leaders decided they needed to come up with a plan.

Several were angered by what they saw as an attempt to pin the blame on the EU for a messy no-deal breakup. “That is why we had to change the plan, because her plan, it was a trap,” one diplomat said. The proposals in the envelopes were torn up.

Macron said the UK should get an unconditional extension until 7 May, but no later. The French president was determined not to be back in the Europa building in seven days for a Brexit crisis summit, and he warned EU leaders against a last-minute decision.

But Merkel objected to Macron’s suggestion, pointing out he risked a no-deal Brexit on the eve of Europe Day on 9 May, which marks European unity. She called for realism to find a way out.

In a corridor, Europe’s most senior diplomats and officials pored over a text message from inside the room, as the scheduled 7pm finish came and went.

Dimiter Tzantchev (@DTzantchev) Dans les couloirs du #ConseilEuropeen art.50 pic.twitter.com/dNPomWMlyf

Ireland’s prime minister, Leo Varadkar, told the leaders how difficult a no-deal Brexit would be for his government to handle. Varadkar said that while the Irish Republic was prepared, Northern Ireland had not put anything in place. “The British policy will make things difficult,” he added.

The leaders were deeply aware as a group that if they accepted 12 April as the new cliff edge, it could mean a no-deal Brexit. Macron turned to Varadkar and asked: “What will happen if there is a no-deal Brexit on 12 April. Would you be fine?” He responded: “We can cope.”

May rejects petition to revoke article 50 despite 2m signatures Read more

By now, rumours were swirling of different dates, while the Twitter commentariat proclaimed the first EU split over Brexit. Insiders said it was not like that, describing the meeting as a “sleeves-rolled-up, brainstorming session” rather than rows. The only thing the leaders found easy to agree was that there was “no ideal date”. One of the EU sources said: “It’s a very unusual moment, because it is really leaders putting their arm in.”

May was holed up in the UK delegation room on the ninth floor. She declined the three-course meal that would be served to EU leaders, choosing something else instead. Two floors above her, the EU27 leaders were deciding her fate over a dinner of green lentils and langoustine terrine, roast duckling à l’orange and a dessert of chocolate variations.

Over the meal, the Brexit extension variations were whittled down. Eight hours after arriving in the room – with an EU debate on China pushed into Friday – the compromise emerged: a “flextension” that will force the UK to make a choice by 12 April if the Brexit deal failed to pass.

Play Video 0:51 Donald Tusk: still ‘lots of spaces’ in hell for Brexiters without a plan – video

May would not join EU leaders the following morning for a summit with the leaders of Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein to celebrate 25 years of the single market. They smilingly pointed to her empty space on the podium, while the British prime minister was already back in London crafting a last-ditch attempt to save her deal.

After saying goodbye to May, Tusk was asked at a press conference whether, if MPs refused to vote for her deal, more room would be made in hell – a reference to his earlier remark about where those people who promoted Brexit “without a sketch of a plan” would go.

He replied: “According to our pope, hell is still empty, and it means there are a lot of spaces.”