European Parliament's Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt | Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images Guy Verhofstadt: UK cross-party effort could stop Brexit A majority of British people ‘want a deeper relationship with Europe,’ the Belgian liberal MEP said.

Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's "Mr. Brexit," is holding out hope that a cross-party group of British lawmakers will stop Britain crashing out of the EU without a deal and potentially help trigger a second referendum.

"I see an evolution. There is a desire in some quarters, such as the backbenchers, to take an approach that goes beyond those taken by the British parties," Verhofstadt told Belgian newspapers L’Echo et De Tijd in an interview published Saturday. "Will they succeed in getting a majority? We have to wait until next week. But I hope so."

The "massive rejection" of Theresa May's Brexit agreement in the U.K. parliament is proof that "a majority of Brits want a deeper relationship with Europe," according to Verhofstadt.

The Belgian liberal MEP conceded it was still unclear whether Labour and Conservative MPs could overcome their differences to side-step a no-deal Brexit, not to mention stop Brexit altogether, adding that "it seems that the parties' interests are more important than the country's."

He also reiterated that both sides could only move forward if the British shifts its red lines.

"The European Union is ready to continue working on the political declaration about future relations with the U.K.," he said. "We are ready to agree to a closer relationship. A customs union, a single market — all that to avoid damage and find a solution in which the Irish backstop will never have to be used, even if the most pessimistic scenario."

Verhofstadt also said the EU institutions will adopt about 20 urgent measures in the coming weeks "to protect the interests of [EU] citizens" as well as transport companies, airlines and the fishing industry. "It's not up to European citizens to pay for the costs of Brexit," he said.