France says 'no' to more Brexit delay

PARIS: French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Sunday rejected any further delay to Britain's exit from the EU, now scheduled for October 31 but clouded by political turmoil in London.

"In the current circumstances, it's no! ... We are not going to go through this every three months," Le Drian said on Le Grand Rendez-vous Europe1/CNEWS/Les Echos programme.

"The (British) say that they want to put forward other solutions, alternative arrangements so that they can leave," he said, referring to Prime Minister Boris Johnson's efforts to find a way out of the backstop mechanism for Northern Ireland, the main sticking point.

"But we have not seen them and so it is 'no'... let the British authorities tell us the way forward," he said.

"Let them take responsibility for their situation... They have to tell us what they want."

Britain was originally meant to leave the European Union on March 29 but with parliament deadlocked the British government ended up negotiating two delays, the latest to October 31.