Theresa May has accused Jeremy Corbyn and Labour of dragging their feet in cross-party Brexit negotiations.

The prime minister voiced her frustration to ministers at a cabinet meeting at which she said the talks had been "difficult in some areas".

Her chief complaint is the time the talks are taking, since Mrs May is desperate for a quick deal to avoid holding elections to the European Parliament on 23 May.

The talks began several weeks ago, but remain deadlocked and after an 11-day break for Easter they only resumed on the day MPs returned to Westminster after the recess.

But after another three hours of talks between teams led by David Lidington for the government and Sir Keir Starmer for Labour, they broke down once again without a breakthrough.


Earlier, during an hour-long Brexit discussion in cabinet, the prime minister gave her ministers an update on the talks with Labour, which are aimed at reaching a deal that can win the backing of MPs.

"The prime minister said discussions with Labour had been serious but had also been difficult in some areas, such as the timetable for negotiations," said the PM's official spokesman.

And a senior Number 10 source later added: "Our position is we need to get this done, theirs is 'we need more time'."

Some top Tories suspect Mr Corbyn is playing for time because Labour wants to fight the European elections, so as to maximise the Tories' Brexit turmoil and inflict further political damage on the PM.

The prospect of European elections going ahead and her Brexit talks with Mr Corbyn and Labour are the two main reasons given by mutinous Tory MPs for wanting to oust the prime minister.

Another reason the PM and her senior allies are desperate for a quick deal is to pass the necessary legislation by 22 May, in time for the European elections to be cancelled.

"Cabinet agreed on the need to secure safe passage of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill through parliament as soon as possible," the PM's spokesman said.

But rejecting any accusations of time wasting or stalling, Mr Corbyn blamed the government for the deadlock and said ministers must be prepared to compromise more.

"There's got to be some changes by the government," he told Sky News. "We cannot go on just hearing this tired old mantra that the Brexit agreement has to be adhered to.

"The Brexit agreement has been three times rejected by parliament.

"What we're saying is that there must be a dynamic relationship, protection of rights at work, rights on what we consume and protection of our natural world.

"As well of course as access to markets which are essential for industry in this country and a customs union, which would ensure there is no hard border in Northern Ireland and that we are able to continue that kind of relationship in the future."

Mr Corbyn added: "People might have voted to leave or to remain in the referendum nearly three years ago. They didn't vote to lose their jobs. They didn't vote to have a de-regulated society.

"I believe the Labour approach can and does bring people together to have a sensible relationship in the future.

"The government really does need to move on a bit and it cannot try to separate out the future political relationship document from the withdrawal agreement."