Boris Johnson has perhaps played to the gallery of the European Union by agreeing to a threemonth extension of the Brexit deadline ~ to 31 January 2020. The development has happened close to four years after the referendum registered a “Yes” vote, however marginally, in June 2016. Monday’s development explains the renewed confidence in Brussels. The EU has let it be known that it will start drawing up the strategy for the post-Brexit trade negotiations with the United Kingdom at a leaders’ summit in December. Mr Johnson’s attempt to secure both a short period for pushing the withdrawal agreement bill through the Commons as well as a post-Brexit general election on 12 December was defeated on Monday evening.

But there are signs that there may still be a majority for a pre-Brexit general election after the government indicated it would table a bill allowing that to happen. There is general agreement across Europe that an early election is imperative. The EU has agreed to a Brexit extension up to 31 January 2020, with the option for the UK to leave earlier if a deal is ratified, clearing the way for Opposition parties to back a general election. After a 30-minute meeting of European ambassadors, Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said the EU27 had agreed to the request made by the British Prime Minister just over a week ago.

Mr Johnson, who said he would rather die in a ditch than delay Brexit, was under an obligation to agree to the terms, breaking his pledge to leave on 31 October ~ “no ifs, no buts … do or die”. He later sent a letter insisting that the delay was “unwanted” but confirmed “the UK’s formal agreement to this extension”. He hoped the EU would insist that this would be the last extension, but no such pledge was made by any heads of member states or heads of the entity’s institutions. The headquarters in Brussels has let it be known that it would not make any commitments that could be a “hostage to fortune”.

For now, the Prime Minister has been given a breather, stretching through Christmas and the New Year. Britain’s constitutional history is set to be reconstructed as 2020 unfolds. The uncertainty over Brexit has persisted for far too long and it is fervently to be hoped that the “extra time” will yield a way forward. A lot can happen in three months. The imbroglio has been staved off for now though the eventual contours are still rather uncertain. Under the terms of the extension, the UK has three months more of EU membership but it can leave on the first day of any of those months if the withdrawal agreement is ratified in both Westminster and the European parliament in the meantime.