THE vote by British lawmakers on the Brexit deal will be postponed again to March 12, Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed Sunday.

Speaking to reporters on the plane to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt for the European Union (EU)-Arab League (AL) summit Sunday, May ruled out bringing the Brexit deal to Commons this week, local media said.

May was quoted by the Guardian as saying: “My team will be back in Brussels on Tuesday. As a result of that, we won’t bring a meaningful vote to parliament this week, but we will ensure that happens by 12 March. But it’s still within our grasp to leave the EU by March 29 and that is what we are planning to do.”

Her decision will come as a blow to opponents who planned to use this week’s vote in the House of Commons to push for a delay to Britain’s departure from the EU, or for a so-called People’s Vote on her deal with Brussels.

Although the EU-AL summit is not scheduled to discuss Brexit, May said she would take the opportunity to meet with leaders of EU member states in her quest to get changes to her deal.

With only 32 days until Britain is due to leave the European Union, May’s decision to push back a vote on her deal has upped the ante with parliament, which is deeply split over how, or even whether, the country should leave the bloc.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are stepping up ways to try to prevent the prime minister from taking Britain out of the EU without a deal, a scenario many businesses say could damage the world’s fifth-largest economy.

Several of their plans would involve extending Article 50, which triggered the two-year Brexit negotiating period, delaying Britain’s departure beyond March 29 — something May has said would only delay a decision.

The government is “considering what to do if parliament makes that decision (does not pass the deal),” a U.K. official said when asked about a possible extension.

The Telegraph newspaper reported that May was considering a plan to delay Britain’s exit for up to two months.

Britain’s plan to leave the EU was thrown into crisis after parliament resoundingly rejected May’s deal last month with the biggest government defeat in modern British history.

That forced May to seek changes to her deal, which was agreed in November, but so far, her talks with the EU have yet to settle on a clear path that can win her the support of parliament, which is deeply divided over Brexit.(SD-Xinhua)