German foreign minister says UK cannot have further Brexit extension

Germany's foreign minister has warned that if the UK does not make progress on agreeing a Brexit deal it will not be given a further extension to the deadline beyond 31 October.

The UK will have to decide what it wants by October as it “cannot drag out Brexit for a decade”, Heiko Maas said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Tuesday

“Another extension could send the signal that they plan to stay in the EU after all. Just think about it: you say you want to leave Europe and then you hold a European Parliament election,” he added.

German chancellor Angela Merkel supported the six-month Brexit delay at last week’s European summit against French insistence that the UK should just be given until the end of June.

Maas’s intervention suggests that Berlin will side with the French come 31 October if the UK has not made any progress on its side.

Maas also spoke about his other concerns around the bloc, including being “very critical” of Italy’s decision to endorse Chinese attempts to invest in certain countries for its Belt and Road initiative.