Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt | Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images Jeremy Hunt: ‘Grounds for hope’ in Labour-Tory Brexit talks The UK foreign secretary said that both main parties would be punished by voters if they didn’t deliver Brexit.

There are "grounds for hope" that the U.K. government and opposition Labour party can strike a Brexit deal that could get through parliament, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the Guardian.

The two front-benches are currently in negotiations to find changes to the deal that would allow the Labour leadership to back it. Labour wants a permanent customs union with the EU, something Prime Minister Theresa May has rejected because it would preclude the U.K. having an independent trade policy.

But Hunt said that compromise was possible. “The ground for hope is that Labour has been clear that they want the benefit of a customs union arrangement — essentially frictionless trade, which is necessary for a Northern Ireland border and for our manufacturing supply chains — and we want that too. So if we can find a solution that brings the benefits of a customs union, that is something that could be a prize,” he said.

He said it was in both parties' interests to deliver Brexit, or they would face angry voters at the European Parliament election. “It is actually in both parties’ interests to resolve this because we will both be punished equally hard by our core voters," he said, "That’s why it is in both parties’ interest to be statesmanlike at this moment.”