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The woman set to become the next head of the EU has announced she's willing to back a third delay to Brexit.

In her confirmation speech to the European Parliament, Ursula von der Leyen said she will back postponing Britain leaving the EU beyond October 31 if there's a "good reason".

And she said: "In any case the UK will remain our ally, our partner and our friend."

Ms von der Leyen is standing to be the President of the European Commission, the body which has led Brexit negotiations with the UK. Although this would give her influence, any decision to offer a delay would be up to the 27 other EU countries' national leaders in the European Council.

Brexit was delayed first from March 29 to mid-April, and then to October 31 this year.

Boris Johnson , who's expected to be Prime Minister from next week, has vowed to leave on October 31 "do or die".

And last night he massively ramped up the odds of a No Deal Brexit by ruling out compromises over the Northern Ireland backstop clause of the Brexit deal.

(Image: REUTERS) (Image: Andrew Parsons / i-Images)

The backstop would force the UK to follow some EU customs rules in order to avoid a hard border springing up between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Brexiteers had suggested they were willing to back the deal if there was a time limit or "exit mechanism" in the backstop.

Even this would have been a big ask from the EU, which refused to agree either in talks with Theresa May.

But now Mr Johnson has declared even that compromise, if agreed, would not be enough.

He told a debate last night: "I’m not attracted to time limits or unilateral escape hatches or all these elaborate devices, glosses, codicils and so on that you could apply to the backstop."

(Image: Getty Images)

Despite the criticism, Ms von der Leyen stood by the 585-page withdrawal agreement today - insisting it "provides certainty, where Brexit created uncertainty".

The German politician and ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a vote by MEPs tonight on whether to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as President of the European Commission.

Furious Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage demanded MEPs vote down the nomination for Ms von der Leyen - who backs plans for the expansion of EU powers.

Ms von der Leyen said: "For the very first time in 2016 a member state decided to leave the EU."

To cheers from Eurosceptic British MEPs, she continued: "This is a serious decision. We regret it but we respect it.

(Image: REUTERS)

"Since then, together with the current government of the UK, the EU has worked hard to organise the orderly departure of the UK.

"The withdrawal agreement concluded with the government of the UK provides certainty, where Brexit created uncertainty.

"In preserving the rights of citizens and in preserving peace and stability of the island of Ireland - these two priorities are mine too.

"However, I stand ready for further extension of the withdrawal date should more time be required for a good reason."

As the Parliament erupted in both cheers and jeers she added: "In any case the UK will remain our ally, our partner and our friend."

In a speech lasting around half an hour she vowed to protect the EU from outside interests and finished her speech by saying: "Long live Europe!"

Ursula von der Leyen faces a make-or-break vote tonight in her quest to be the European Commission's first female leader.

(Image: REUTERS)

A raft of promises made the previous day may help her win over sceptical EU socialist and liberal politicians.

To appease them, von der Leyen pledged more ambitious carbon dioxide emissions targets, a more growth-oriented fiscal policy and taxing big tech companies.

She also vowed to create an additional comprehensive European rule-of-law mechanism that includes annual reporting, boost the EU's border guards earlier than scheduled to deal with the migrant issue, and set a minimum wage for EU workers.

Von der Leyen also suggested scrapping unanimous agreement by all 28 EU countries on climate, energy, social and taxation issues and give Britain more time to negotiate its exit from the bloc.

Her pledges came amidst anger among some EU lawmakers over her nomination by EU leaders and their rejection of the "spitzenkandidaten", the main parliamentary groups' candidates for the job.

The assembly however is currently four members short which means she needs 374 votes instead of 376.

The kind of support she gets could complicate her job as head of the EU executive in charge of trade negotiations, economic and climate policy for 500 million Europeans and antitrust rulings involving powerful tech giants.

She can count on 182 votes from the conservative European People's Party and needs to win over the 153 members of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats and the 108 from the Renew Europe liberals.

Backing from the far-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), nationalists from eastern Europe and British members of the European Parliament however could cast doubts on her legitimacy and weaken efforts to maintain the bloc's democratic norms.

If lawmakers reject von der Leyen, it would be a serious blow for the bloc, battered in the last decade by the euro zone debt crisis, Britain's decision to leave and the rise of far-right and far-left eurosceptic parties.

It would also create a headache for EU leaders who would have to come up with another candidate in a month.