Prime Minister in discussions with MPs over alternative Brexit deal

Theresa May and senior Cabinet ministers were engaged in intensive discussions with MPs from all sides of the Brexit debate, as the Prime Minister fought to find a deal which could command support in Parliament.

But Jeremy Corbyn and his front bench continued to snub the talks, which the Labour leader dismissed as a “stunt”.

In a speech in the marginal Conservative constituency of Hastings, Mr Corbyn called on Mrs May to ditch her negotiation red lines and take the prospect of a no-deal Brexit off the table.

“The Prime Minister seems completely unable to grasp what has actually happened,” he said. “She seems to be prepared to send the country hurtling towards a cliff edge.

“To get a deal that can command a majority in Parliament, Theresa May has to ditch the red lines and get serious about proposals for the future.”

But Liberal Democrats accused the Labour leader of “playing political games” and said he could no longer rely on their support in future no-confidence votes, after he failed to throw his party behind calls for a second EU referendum.

A new opinion poll showed a 12-point lead for staying in the EU if a fresh vote was held. The YouGov survey for the People’s Vote campaign, conducted after Mrs May’s Brexit plan went down to humiliating defeat in the House of Commons on Tuesday, put Remain on 56% against 44% for Leave.

People’s Vote supporter Chuka Umunna said the poll showed that more than three-quarters of Labour voters back a referendum, warning Mr Corbyn: “To ignore those calls now would be an historic mistake for which Labour would not be forgiven.”

A Conservative “Right to Vote” campaign for a second EU referendum was launched by MP Phillip Lee, who claimed support for a so-called People’s Vote was “growing fast” among his colleagues on the Tory benches.

After seeing off a vote of no-confidence in her Government on Wednesday, Mrs May invited the other party leaders for individual talks to find a way forward on Brexit.

But she told the House of Commons she was holding to the “principles” behind the Withdrawal Agreement which was roundly rejected by MPs on Tuesday, including control of borders, laws and money and an independent trade policy.

Aides later said that the requirement for an independent trade policy was incompatible with membership of a European customs union – something which Labour regards as essential.

The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier indicated that Brussels was ready to respond to any revision of Mrs May’s “red line” demands, telling MPs in Portugal: “If they change, we’ll change.”

Mr Barnier said that getting an agreement was “in everybody’s interest” and that “something has to change” to secure a divorce deal.

Shadow cabinet minister Barry Gardiner said Mrs May was clinging to her red lines because she knew that any compromise on them would “break the Conservative Party” by pushing eurosceptic backbenchers in the European Research Group (ERG) to desert her.

“If she wants to negotiate with all parties in Parliament, and if she wants to do that in good faith, she has to say ‘OK, I’m not sticking to every single one of the red lines that I’ve established’,” he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

But Labour’s former prime minister Tony Blair said Mr Corbyn was wrong to snub the talks, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today: “If, in a moment of national crisis, the Prime Minister asks the Leader of the Opposition to come and talk, of course he should.”

And Conservative chairman Brandon Lewis accused Labour of “trying to frustrate and avoid Brexit” by keeping open the option of a referendum.

Mrs May has said that “the door remains open” to Labour for talks ahead of the deadline for her to present her Plan B to MPs on Monday.

Among MPs arriving for talks were a group of eurosceptics including former Brexit Secretary David Davis and ERG vice-chairman Steve Baker, as well as Green MP Caroline Lucas and the DUP’s Nigel Dodds with party leader Arlene Foster.

Downing Street said meetings would be held with MPs representing the “whole range” of opinion across the House, including some backbench Labour MPs.

Some MPs were meeting with the Prime Minister and Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay while others were seeing Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington and Environment Secretary Michael Gove.