Over the last two weeks, ministers and opposition politicians have gathered in the Cabinet Office. We have spent long hours around conference room tables together, in search of common ground that will pave the road ahead as we leave the EU.

Lidington insists deal with Labour over Brexit is still a real prospect Read more

In the last election, over 80% of the British public voted for Labour and the Conservatives. Both parties pledged to leave the EU – and to leave with a deal and take back control whilst protecting jobs and security. Today, those principles remain at the heart of our talks with Labour and through this process we have found more that unites us than divides us.

The decision to sit down with the opposition to try and agree a plan to ensure we leave the EU was not taken lightly. It reflects that this has not been an easy moment in our political history. The Brexit debate has been difficult and divisive. Parliamentarians have agonised over how to deliver on a referendum that was not fought on party lines. No proposal has yet commanded a majority in parliament – though the government’s deal has secured more votes than any of the other options put forward.

The British public are rightly frustrated. It has been over 1,000 days since they voted to leave the EU. They want us to end this impasse, to move forward, and for politicians to work together in the national interest.

Time is pressing. The extension agreed with the EU this week does not mean there is any less urgency within government to deliver on the result of the referendum. If we act now and parliament approves a deal before 22 May, we will leave and not need to hold elections to the European parliament.

To deliver a smooth, orderly Brexit, we must build a majority for a deal.

The discussions I have had with Labour in the past fortnight have been serious and constructive. They have shown that across the House, regardless of party, there is a majority for honouring the result of the referendum with a deal.

We agree on the need for a deep economic relationship with our closest neighbours, and that Brexit should not be at the expense of workers’ rights or environmental protections. Indeed, the government has committed to giving MPs the right to vote on whether any future changes in EU law that strengthen workers’ rights should be adopted into UK law – British workers should have no less favourable protections than workers in the EU.

We also agree on the need to retain the closest possible relationship with European agencies in heavily regulated sectors areas such as medicine, and on issues including data, science and innovation. And we both want an unrivalled security partnership to keep our people safe and our borders secure.

We share the objective of ensuring we deliver the benefits of a customs union – with no tariffs, fees, charges, or rules of origin checks. We want to keep our product standards aligned so that goods can be exported to and imported from the EU without unnecessary regulatory checks.

The key difference between us is we believe it is important that the UK has control of its own trade policy; Labour worries that this must mean tariffs, quotas and rules of origin checks that would be bad for jobs. We must find a way of squaring this circle.

Before we can move on to negotiating those issues, MPs must recognise that any deal has to include as a starting point the withdrawal agreement that has been negotiated with the EU. This week the EU Council again reiterated that the agreement cannot be reopened but it also said it would be willing to look at changes to the political declaration, which sets out the nature of our future relationship. We are open to considering changes that further clarify our negotiating aims for that future relationship and to exploring how best to entrench such objectives.

So in the coming days we will continue our talks with the Labour party in good faith. These will involve detailed, technical discussions on issues including customs, workers’ rights, environmental protections and security. Reaching an agreement will not be easy but without compromise we cannot build consensus.

There is no guarantee of success but if we can find a way through these talks to a majority for a deal in parliament, that will mean we can leave the EU and move on to the next phase of negotiations – to deliver a relationship with the EU that honours our deep and lasting ties with Europe while allowing us to forge a bold new path ahead.

David Lidington is chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and minister for the Cabinet Office.