Talks between Theresa May and the Labour party to end Brexit deadlock will not continue ‘for the sake of it’, Downing Street has said.

The warning came after a Labour party spokesperson said Corbyn and May had ‘agreed to continue talks in effort to make substantive progress towards finding a compromised plan’, following a short meeting between the leaders.

The prime minister returned to face her critics after the European Union leaders granted her a second delay to Britain’s exit from the bloc.

Downing Street have said talks with Labour won’t continue for ‘the sake of it’ (Picture: AFP)

This comes after Labour suggested the two leaders would continue to talk (Picture: AFP)

A late night diplomacy in Brussels resulted in the EU setting Halloween, October 31, as the new deadline for the UK to reach an agreement on the terms of its withdrawal.


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May also announced she will hold yet more votes with MPs to determine what kind of deal they want if the Government can’t agree a new Brexit deal with Labour.



In the Commons, the PM brushed off a call to resign from veteran Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash who described her acceptance of the latest extension to the Article 50 withdrawal process as an ‘abject surrender’.

However senior Tories warned the pressure on her to go would ‘increase dramatically’ amid frustration among MPs that there is still no certainty as to when Britain will leave.

May told MPs that under the terms of the extension it was still possible Britain could avoid voting in European elections on May 23 if Parliament was able to pass a deal before that date.

However she acknowledged that reaching agreement in talks with Labour ‘will not be easy’ as it would require compromise on both sides, but said that it was in the ‘national interest’ that they should try.

May has been offered a second extension (Picture: HOC)

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She said: ‘This is not the normal way of British politics – and it is uncomfortable for many in both the Government and opposition parties.

‘But however challenging it may be politically, I profoundly believe that in this unique situation where the House is deadlocked, it is incumbent on both front benches to seek to work together to deliver what the British people voted for.’

Jeremy Corbyn said Labour would continue to engage ‘constructively’ in the negotiations which he described as ‘serious, detailed and ongoing’, but warned ministers would have to compromise if they were to succeed.

He hit out at what he said was an apparent attempt by International Trade Secretary Liam Fox to ‘scupper’ the talks by trying to rule out a customs union – a key Labour demand.

May however suggested the two sides were not as far apart on the issue as was sometimes claimed.

Corbyn and May had a short meeting this afternoon (Picture: HOC)

She said: ‘I think there is actually more agreement in relation to a customs union than is often given credit for when different language is used.’

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A No 10 source said they would continue to pursue the dialogue as long as they believed it was making progress, but added: ‘Bluntly, we won’t continue to talk for the sake of it.’

May said that if they could not agree a single unified approach, they would seek to agree a ‘small number’ of options which they would put to the House for MPs to vote on.

She said: ‘As I have made clear before, the Government stands ready to abide by the decision of the House. But to make this process work, the opposition would need to agree to this too.’



Following her Commons statement, May and Corbyn held a ‘short meeting’ at Westminster when they agreed to continue the talks process, Labour said.

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