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Irish leader: EU reluctant to give UK further Brexit delay

LONDON (AP) — Ireland’s prime minister says European Union leaders would feel a “great deal of reluctance” about giving Britain another delay to Brexit.

Leo Varadkar said Monday that many EU countries felt “very frustrated” and would only postpone Britain’s departure date for “a very good reason,” such as a U.K. general election.

Britain’s EU departure, long scheduled for March 29, was delayed after the U.K. Parliament rejected the divorce deal agreed between Prime Minister Theresa May’s government and the bloc.

It is currently scheduled for Oct. 31.

May announced her resignation last month. The two lawmakers vying to replace her, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, both vow to take Britain out of the EU, with or without a divorce agreement.

Most economists say a no-deal Brexit would plunge the U.K. into recession.

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Follow AP’s full coverage of Brexit and the Conservative Party leadership race at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit