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Jeremy Corbyn today accused senior Tory MPs of jockeying to succeed Theresa May rather than seeking a Brexit deal with Labour — fuelling the belief that the cross-party negotiations are on the brink of collapse.

Launching his party’s campaign for the European elections in Medway, Kent, the Labour leader said: “So far in those talks there has been no big offer and the red lines remain.

“It’s difficult negotiating with a disintegrating Government with Cabinet ministers jockeying for the succession, rather than working for an agreement.”

A Labour source added: “Imagine our negotiating team’s frustration as almost every time they go in for good faith talks, the noises from Tory leadership contenders threaten to sabotage the whole process.”

Party sources highlighted Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s warning to Mrs May that she risks losing support from more Tory MPs than she would gain from Labour if she backed staying in the customs union; Boris Johnson saying such a deal “would make a total nonsense of the referendum result”; and Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom announcing yesterday that she is considering standing for leader.

However, Labour’s own divisions were laid bare when its European Parliament leader Richard Corbett MEP said that supporting the party in the European elections would be a vote for a confirmatory referendum on a Brexit deal — something Mr Corbyn has refused to back explicitly.

“Labour’s position is, if you can’t get the Government to pivot to a Brexit deal that works for Britain — and that looks pretty unlikely — then we support putting it back to the people in another referendum,” he told BBC radio.

Asked if Labour was the party for Remain or Leave, he added: “We campaigned to remain in the last referendum. If there were a new one and the choice is between a pretty disastrous Brexit deal or remaining, I’m sure we will campaign to remain.”

Pressed on whether a vote for Labour is a vote for another EU referendum, he responded: “In the current situation, absolutely.”