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:
Number 10 has suggested Labour is dragging its feet in the cross-party talks over a solution to the Brexit impasse as discussions entered another week at Westminster. It is quite significant, as until now, Downing Street has avoided criticising the opposition directly.
A spokesperson for the prime minister told journalists at a regular briefing: “The talks with Labour have been serious but have also been difficult in some areas, such as in relation to the timetable for the negotiation”
A Conservative MP has tabled a Commons motion of no confidence in the Speaker John Bercow, according to the Press Association.
But former minister Crispin Blunt's early-day motion (EDM) was tabled in his name only after he failed to find 100 MPs willing to sign it.
Mr Blunt wrote to all MPs asking for support, but said he would not publish the names of backers unless they hit three figures in order not to expose them to "retribution" by the Speaker. Mr Bercow has infuriated Brexit-backing Tories with decisions including a block on Theresa May repeatedly tabling her Withdrawal Agreement in the hope of whittling down opposition.
Energy minister Claire Perry has said she has "mixed emotions" over the Extinction Rebellion protests.
Responding to an urgent question about the demonstrations, she said there was "excitement" that conversations about climate change had entered the mainstream.
But the politician said the protesters' message "ignore the progress" being made and leave people "fearful for the future rather than hopeful".
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will make a "detailed and substantive" speech on Wednesday about plans for Scottish independence.
She will deliver the 30-minute statement in the Scottish Parliament on her "thoughts on independence and how that relates to where the country currently finds itself".
Her spokesperson added that she would set out "the path forward for Scotland amid the ongoing Brexit confusion at Westminster."
International development minister Michael Bates has resigned from the government.
The Conservative peer offered to resign last year after arriving late for a parliamentary session.
At the time his resignation was refused by Theresa May.
There is no immediate explanation for why Lord Bates has now stepped down.
Baroness Sugg, a former aide to David Cameron, has been appointed as a junior minister in the Department of International Development.
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