Cabinet source says PM negotiating with one hand behind her back, amid warnings long delay would cause ‘tremendous angst’

Theresa May is facing intense cabinet pressure to avoid the prospect of a long Brexit delay, amid increasing expectations that last ditch cross-party talks on a compromise departure plan will not produce anything concrete.

Before a crucial EU summit later this week, the prime minister is facing a fast-diminishing range of options that could split the Conservative party and prompt a mass cabinet walkout, or could result in the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal on Friday.

May’s only response on Sunday was a homespun video that called for a compromise solution, but while praised for its conversational style, it lacked any fresh detail on proposals to break the Brexit impasse.

With Labour reiterating it had yet to learn even the basics of concessions May might offer after her dramatic call last week for consensus, the timetable looked tight to agree anything before the European council gathering on Wednesday evening.

Under the terms of the previous brief extension agreed with the EU, if Brussels does not agree another delay, a no-deal Brexit will happen on Friday. May has requested a pause until 30 June, but Brussels is keen on a wait of up to a year, which could be broken earlier if a solution is found.

On Monday, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, will hold talks with the Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar. At the weekend, Varadkar said his own preference was for a longer extension than 30 June.

Also on Monday, Jeremy Corbyn is due to hold meetings with Sinn Fein’s leaders in London. The party’s president, Mary Lou McDonald, is expected to tell Corbyn that Irish interests must be protected whatever the outcome of his Brexit negotiations with Theresa May.

On Sunday, a key ally of French president Emmanuel Macron said that such a “flex-tension” plan should be replaced by “a long extension so the UK can really figure out what it wants”.

Alexandre Holroyd, an MP from Macron’s En Marche party whose brief covers Brexit, told the BBC that this should come with conditions, for example, the UK should have no say on the next EU budget.

Pro-Brexit cabinet sources said a long delay, particularly one under such terms, would “cause a tremendous amount of angst”. They said: “A long, non-flexible extension would come with EU elections as well, which is another red line for lots of the Conservative party.

“It all shows the mistake of taking no deal off the table – we’re negotiating with one hand behind our back.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘I’m not an advocate for no deal, but it would not be nearly as bad as many like to think it would be,’ said Andrea Leadsom, leader of the House of Commons in an interview on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show. Photograph: Jeff Overs/BBC/PA

May was also warned publicly by ministers on Sunday against a long delay. Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the House of Commons, told the BBC that the idea of an extension long enough to require the UK to hold European elections was “utterly unacceptable”.

Leadsom indicated that the other option, a no-deal departure, was preferable: “The civil service have done an amazing job of ensuring that we minimise the problems. I’m not an advocate for no deal, but it would not be nearly as bad as many like to think it would be.”

Liz Truss, the chief secretary to the Treasury, warned against the “purgatory” of a lengthy delay. She told the BBC: “I think the British public are going to be pretty horrified if we go into more limbo than we’ve already had.”

In her video message, shot on a sometimes shaky hand-held camera at her Chequers country retreat, May conceded her own Brexit deal appeared doomed given it had been rejected by MPs three times. “Right now, as things stand, I can’t see them accepting it,” she said.

Given this, May said she was talking to Labour – despite disagreements in many other areas. “Can we find a way through this that ensures that we can get a good deal and a deal agreed through parliament?” she said.

“It’ll mean compromise on both sides but I believe that delivering Brexit is the most important thing for us.”

The talks began last week with Jeremy Corbyn and May meeting with teams of ministers and aides, but by Friday had shrunk to some phone calls and one-to-one talks between officials.

The shadow business secretary, Rebecca Long-Bailey, who was among the Labour delegation, said on Sunday that while the mood of the talks had been positive, there was as yet no sign on where May might budge, particularly Labour’s key demand for a post-Brexit customs union with the EU.

“We are currently waiting for the government to come back to us now to state whether they are prepared to move on any of their red lines,” Long-Bailey told the BBC.

Adding to the sense of drift, Leadsom indicated that it was up to Labour to accept the customs arrangement already in May’s rejected deal, and that she and other Brexiter members of May’s ministerial team could not accept a full customs union.

“There are various different types of arrangements, and those discussions are still ongoing,” Leadsom said, calling May’s existing customs plan “an excellent proposal”.

Asked whether May could agree to a full customs union, Leadsom indicated not. “My expectation – and I’m not party to the discussions – is that the prime minister will only seek to agree those things that still constitute Brexit.”

What does seem clear is that May’s options are closing in, with her deal conceded as lost, and a backbench bill led by the Labour MP Yvette Cooper mandating the PM to avoid a no-deal departure is expected to become law late on Monday, after finishing its progress through the Lords.

Cabinet sources said they were in the dark about what, if any, plan the prime minister was hatching.

“As ever, she’s still saying the same thing with no hint of progression, so we’re in the dark as to what the next steps might be,” one said.

Another source said the plot for the Brussels summit seemed clear: “I expect she’ll have a pretty bruising time and then walk away with a long extension.”