Exactly 1,000 days after Britain voted to leave the European Union, and nine days before it is scheduled to walk out the door, Prime Minister Theresa May has hit the pause button, asking the bloc to postpone the UK's departure until June 30.

Key points: Theresa May has asked the EU to grant an extension to Brexit until June 30

Theresa May has asked the EU to grant an extension to Brexit until June 30 The opposition is opposed to a short delay, while pro-Brexit MPs are opposed to any delay

The opposition is opposed to a short delay, while pro-Brexit MPs are opposed to any delay The EU says it will not renegotiate or provide any additional guarantees to the UK

EU leaders, exasperated by Brexit melodrama, said they would only grant the extension if Mrs May could guarantee that the UK Parliament would pass her twice-rejected Brexit deal.

A third vote on the deal was ruled out by House of Commons speaker John Bercow unless it was "fundamentally different".

Without it, the UK was facing a chaotic "no-deal" departure from the bloc within days, or a much longer delay that Mrs May had said she would not allow.

"This is delay is a matter of great personal regret for me, and of this I am absolutely sure — you the public have had enough," Mrs May said.

"You're tired of the political games and arcane procedural rows, [and] tired of MPs talking about nothing else but Brexit."

She added that the British public had other concerns, such as the quality of schools and the National Health Service, and the spectre of knife crime in cities.

Europe growing weary of long British goodbye

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 30 seconds 30 s The UK Parliament voted earlier this month to delay Brexit by three months.

Nearly three years after the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU and nine days before the formal exit deadline, British MPs are still arguing over how, when or even if the world's fifth largest economy should leave the bloc it first joined in 1973.

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The House of Commons' refusal to ratify the withdrawal deal she agreed with the EU has thrust her government into crisis, but the EU has continued to help Westminster with its impasse.

European Council President Donald Tusk said he thought a short delay to Brexit "will be possible, but it would be conditional on a positive vote on the withdrawal agreement in the House of Commons".

He said Mrs May's petition for a withdrawal date of June 30 instead of March 29 poses legal and political issues since elections for the EU Parliament are being held from May 23 to 26.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said a delay could only be granted if Mrs May guaranteed that its purpose was "to finalise the ratification of the deal already negotiated".

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also added to European exasperation:

"If the [EU] Council is to decide on extending the deadline for Britain, then we would like to know: Why, why, why?"



A pro-Remain protester holds vigil across from the UK's Parliament. ( ABC News: Lincoln Rothall )

Mrs May said she planned to ask Parliament to vote a third time on her departure deal, which MPs have already voted down twice. She didn't say when the vote would happen.

The opposition Labour Party said that by choosing a short delay Mrs May was forcing British MPs to decide between accepting a deal they've already rejected twice or crashing out of the EU without a deal.

Opposition Labour Party MP Angela Eagle said Mrs May should "stop banging her head against the brick wall of her defeated deal" and seek cross-party support for a new Brexit strategy.

Pro-Brexit members of Mrs May's Conservative Party are opposed to a longer delay because they fear this could mean that Brexit might never happen.

May says Britain 'desperately' needs to unite

Britons have not shied away from expressing dismay about Brexit. ( AP: Frank Augstein )

The EU has said any extension should either be until May 23 or "significantly longer" and require Britain to take part in European elections scheduled for May.

The Prime Minister said it was not in Britain's interests to take part in European elections:

"Some argue I'm making the wrong choice and that I should ask for a longer extension, till the end of the year or beyond, to give more time for politicians to argue for the way forward," she said.

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"That would mean asking you to vote in European elections nearly three years after our country decided to leave: What kind of message would that send?"

"Just how bitter and divisive would that election campaign be at a time when the country desperately needs bringing back together," she said.

A European Commission document seen by Reuters said the EU should offer Britain just one extension as multiple delays would leave the bloc in limbo.

European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU had done much to accommodate Britain and could go no further, a position echoed by Mr Tusk.

"If that doesn't happen, and if Great Britain does not leave at the end of March, then we are, I am sorry to say, in the hands of God," he said.

"And I think even God sometimes reaches a limit to his patience."

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