This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48304867

The article has changed 16 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 5 Version 6
Brexit: Talks between Tories and Labour set to close with no deal Brexit: Jeremy Corbyn says cross-party talks have 'gone as far as they can'
(about 2 hours later)
Talks between the Conservatives and Labour to find a compromise over Brexit are set to end without agreement. Jeremy Corbyn says talks with the government to find a compromise over Brexit "have gone as far as they can".
The parties' negotiating teams have been meeting for six weeks to break the deadlock, but will now have to discuss options to put to Parliament instead. In a letter to the PM, the Labour leader said the six weeks of cross-party discussions could not carry on due to "the increasing weakness and instability" of the government.
On Thursday the PM promised to set a timetable for leaving Downing Street following the next Brexit vote in June. Downing Street has yet to respond.
Ex-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is the latest MP to say he will run in the Tory leadership election to follow. Labour and the Conservatives are now expected to discuss how to put a number of options to MPs to break the Brexit deadlock in Parliament.
The UK was due to leave the EU on 29 March but the deadline was pushed back to 31 October after MPs rejected Theresa May's proposed deal - the withdrawal agreement negotiated with the EU - three times. On Thursday the PM promised to set a timetable for leaving Downing Street following a Brexit vote next month.
That prompted attempts to find a way to end the impasse through cross-party talks between Labour and the Conservatives. Environment Secretary Michael Gove said MPs needed to "focus on making sure that we honour [the] mandate" of leaving the EU.
Labour negotiators have been seeking a permanent and comprehensive customs union with the EU after Brexit, meaning that there would be no internal tariffs (taxes) on goods sold between the UK and the rest of the bloc. Theresa May will try once again to win the support of MPs in the week beginning 3 June, when the Commons votes for the first time on the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill - the legislation needed to implement her deal with the EU.
But many Brexit-supporting Tory MPs want the UK to negotiate its own trade deals on goods with other countries around the world, which would be impossible with a customs union in place. Brexit had been due to take place on 29 March - but after MPs voted down the deal Mrs May had negotiated with the bloc three times, the EU gave the UK an extension until 31 October.
At a shadow cabinet meeting on Tuesday, some Labour frontbenchers called for an immediate halt to the talks, raising questions over whether Mr Corbyn could win approval from his party for any deal. This prompted negotiations between the Tories and Labour to see if the parties could come to a Brexit agreement.
Meanwhile, the prospect of compromising on issues such as the customs union has provoked anger in the Conservative parliamentary party. But, in a letter to the prime minister, Mr Corbyn said the move towards choosing a new leader for the Conservative Party meant "the position of the government has become ever more unstable and its authority eroded", undermining confidence in the "government's ability to deliver any compromise agreement".
BBC Newsnight political editor Nicholas Watt said Tory whips had given up hope of finding agreement with the Labour leader on a Brexit deal. He also said that "not infrequently, proposals by your negotiating team have been publicly contradicted by statements from other members of the cabinet".
Mrs May has come under increasing pressure to leave Downing Street this summer, with Brexit deadlocked and poor results for the Conservatives in the recent local elections in England. Mr Corbyn described the talks as "detailed" and "constructive", but said "while there are some areas where compromise has been possible, we have been unable to bridge important policy gaps between us".
She will try once again to gain the support of MPs in the week beginning 3 June, when the Commons votes for the first time on the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill - legislation needed to implement her deal. He said the party would "carefully consider" any proposals the government, but that, without "significant changes", Labour would continue to oppose the "botched deal".
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said if the bill were defeated Mrs May would be expected to announce that she was stepping down. Labour's favoured plan includes a permanent customs union with the EU, meaning no internal tariffs (taxes) on goods sold between the UK and the rest of the bloc.
Brexiteer Mr Johnson said he would stand in the leadership contest after Mrs May departs, telling a business conference in Manchester on Wednesday: "Of course I am going to go for it." It also keeps the option of a further referendum on the table, giving the public a say on the deal agreed by Parliament.
Labour backbench MP Hilary Benn, who chairs the Brexit select committee in the House of Commons, said news that the talks were ending had "not come as a great surprise" as it did not appear much progress had been made. Both scenarios have caused anger among Brexit-backing Conservatives, who claim a customs union would stop the UK negotiating its own trade deals around the world and who believe another public vote is undemocratic.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he believed Labour should back a public vote on any Brexit deal, saying: "There are only two ways out of the Brexit crisis that we've got - either Parliament agrees a deal or we go back to the British people and ask them to make the choice." Some MPs have also criticised Mrs May for even entering into talks with Labour, but the prime minister said the government had "no choice but to reach out across the House of Commons".
Tory MP Nicky Morgan said she was sad at an end to the talks, telling Today: "This is a difficult situation [but] it is going to be a shame if we are not able to demonstrate we can compromise and find a way through this." Tory backbencher Simon Clarke responded to the news on Twitter, saying: "Thank God. They [the talks] ought never to have happened."
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told Today that she felt "a degree of sympathy" for Mrs May on a "personal level", but added: "That said, I don't think she has played the hand she was given particularly well." And fellow Tory MP Priti Patel, who is a Leave supporter, also said many members of the party "did question the judgement of the cabinet when they approved [the] talks".
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said if the bill were defeated next month, Mrs May would be expected to announce that she was stepping down.
On Thursday, former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson became the latest MP to put his name forward as a possible successor.
Asked by reporters if he would be running for the leadership, Mr Gove said it was now time for colleagues to concentrate on delivering Brexit.
"All parliamentarians now must focus on making sure that we honour that mandate, we deliver on the referendum and leave the European Union," he said.