Brexit news: Theresa May accuses Labour of slowing down talks as cross-party discussions continue
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May has accused Labour of dragging its feet over cross-party Brexit talks as MPs return to Westminster after the Easter break.
The prime minister said the Labour Party was engaging in the talks in a “serious” way but said there were difficulties with scheduling the talks.
Jeremy Corbyn said the lack of progress was due to the government’s refusal to compromise.
“They cannot keep on just regurgitating what has already been emphatically rejected three times by Parliament, there’s got to be a change,” the Labour leader said.
Mrs May remains under considerable pressure from her own backbenchers, who remain largely dissatisfied with her leadership.
Officers of the 1922 backbench committee met on Tuesday evening to discuss changing the party’s rules.
A rule change could allow MPs to challenge Ms May’s position as leader as early as June.
Nigel Evans, the committee’s secretary said Theresa May should announce her resignation “today” in order to break the Brexit impasse.
“I hope she does accept the fact the call for her resignation now is growing into a clamour,” he said.
But prisons minister Rory Stewart backed Mrs May as “our best hope” of resolving Brexit.
He told BBC’s Today programme that “the problem is not the Prime Minister, the problem is Brexit”.
If you would like to see how the day in Westminster unfolded please see what was our live coverage below:
For more on Rachel Johnson's announcement she will stand for Change UK at the European elections next month, head here:
This is from the Indy's political correspondent Lizzy Buchan, who is at the launch of the Change UK campaign for the European elections.
Donald Trump is to arrive in the UK for state visit during the first week of June, Number 10 announces. He's expected to visit Downing Street for talks with Theresa May - something he avoided last year over protest fears.
Downing Street has provided more information on Donald Trump's state visit in June this year. It is expected to happen between 3-5 June to coincide with a major D-Day commemoration event.
The President and the First Lady will be a guest of the Queen during the visit, and also have discussions with Theresa May in Downing Street.
On the state visit, the prime minister said: “The UK and United States have a deep and enduring partnership that is rooted in our common history and shared interests.
“We do more together than any two nations in the world and we are both safer and more prosperous because of our cooperation.
“The State Visit is an opportunity to strengthen our already close relationship in areas such as trade, investment, security and defence, and to discuss how we can build on these ties in the years ahead.”
Speaking in Bristol, Rachel Johnson, who has announced her MEP candidacy for Change UK at the European elections next month, said: "I'm sure that Boris understands why this is not a vote against Boris."
"This is a vote for change. We need to move the dial. People need to have a say," she said.
In an interview with the Evening Standard, Ms Johnson said she did not want to see Brexit "rubbing out" her children's chances of living, travelling and working in Europe.
"These are chances that the politicians who decided to campaign to Leave have enjoyed themselves," she told the newspaper.
"It is simply not fair - and sometimes one has to stand up and be counted. It is now that time for me."
Change UK could vote with the government in a no-confidence vote to avoid a damaging general election, its interim leader has said.
Former Tory MP Heidi Allen said an election was “absolutely the last thing” the country needs during the Brexit chaos, as she launched the party’s campaign for the upcoming European parliament elections in Bristol.
As MPs return from their Easter recess, one of the first items on the agenda will be an urgent question from the former Labour leader Ed Miliband, who will be asking government ministers a question on climate action and the Extinction Rebellion demonstrations that have recently brought major roads to a standstill in central London.
This will be followed by a ministerial statement from the foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt on the recent attacks in Sri Lanka, and the energy minister Claire Perry on the government's climate change policy.
On the news that Donald Trump will be visiting the UK later this year on an official state visit, Labour's shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry says: “It beggars belief that on the very same day Donald Trump is threatening to veto a UN resolution against the use of rape as a weapon of war, Theresa May is pressing ahead with her plans to honour him with a state visit to the UK.
“This is a president who has systematically assaulted all the shared values that unite our two countries, and unless Theresa May is finally going to stand up to him and object to that behaviour, she has no business wasting taxpayers’ money on all the pomp, ceremony and policing costs that will come with this visit.”
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, added: “Sadiq’s views about Donald Trump are well known, but he of course understands the importance of the President of the United States coming here at a time when we mark the anniversary of D-Day alongside our other allies.”
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