Brexit: Theresa May vows to delay EU departure to secure a deal and reaches out to Jeremy Corbyn
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May has reached out to Jeremy Corbyn to find a way through the Brexit deadlock as she vowed to delay the UK’s exit to secure a deal.
In a statement from Downing Street, Ms May said: “This is a decisive moment in the story of these islands and it will require national unity to deliver the national interest.’’
Mr Corbyn, the Labour leader, said he was “very happy” to meet the prime minister to discuss a way forward.
It comes after Ms May gathered her cabinet for seven-hour crisis talks after MPs once again failed to unite around any Brexit option during a late-night session of indicative votes.
Recap our coverage of the day's developments
Despite Ms May’s departure plan having been rejected by MPs three times in the House of Commons, it is believed she may try to put it to the house for a fourth time.
The meetings come amid growing speculation the prime minister could call a snap general election if a fourth attempt to pass her deal fails.
The European Research Group of Brexiteer Tories was holding a meeting as Theresa May made her statement.
A source in the room told Press Association: "We had her speech on the telly at the start of the meeting.
"It did not go down well."
The chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation has called for a longer extension to Article 50 to allow time for new Brexit plans to be formulated.
Ian Wright, whose organisation represents UK food and drink manufacturers, said:
Livelihoods are at stake, jobs are on the line. Food and drink manufacturers are spending money, time and effort trying to plan under a cloud of perpetual uncertainty.
A further extension to Article 50 must be sufficient to allow for a new plan to emerge.
Unless the Prime Minister can secure the speedy support of the leader of the Opposition, another short extension would only prolong the misery for businesses and the country.
Fourteen of Theresa May's cabinet ministers were apparently opposed to delaying Brexit for longer, with 10 in favour of it, and the rest undecided.
ERG chairman and leading Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg has has described Theresa May's statement as "deeply unsatisfactory" and claimed her new approach "lacks democratic legitimacy".
He said: "People did not vote for a Corbyn-May coalition government - they voted for a Conservative government, which became a confidence and supply with the DUP.
"This is a deeply unsatisfactory approach.
"It's not in the interests of the country, it fails to deliver on the referendum result and history doesn't bode well for it."
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said he is "very happy'' to meet Theresa May after her offer to sit down with him to agree a Brexit plan which allows the UK to leave the EU with a deal.
He added:
We will meet the Prime Minister.
We recognise that she has made a move, I recognise my responsibility to represent the people that supported Labour in the last election and the people who didn't support Labour but nevertheless want certainty and security for their own future and that's the basis on which we will meet her and we will have those discussions.
Here's our breaking story on Corbyn's response to the PM's statement:
Ministers voted 17-4 in favour of the limited Brexit extension sought by the prime minister, a source has told the Press Association.
Gavin Williamson, Penny Mordaunt, Chris Grayling and Liz Truss opposed the extension.
Of the 17 who backed it, Jeremy Wright and James Brokenshire made a point of saying they only wanted a short extension to the Article 50 process.
The source said: "This is a pragmatic way forward. PM clear that we won't leave with no deal in April."
A second source described today's cabinet meeting as "divisive" and "tense".
Boris Johnson, who swung behind Theresa May's withdrawal agreement last week after vowing to vote against it, has said he will not support a softer deal involving a customs union:
A Number 10 source has characterised today's cabinet meeting as "a wide-ranging and constructive discussion" in which all ministers spoke.
Proposals discussed during the political session were then formalised on the basis of collective agreement.
The source said there was no vote or show of hands on the plan.
The option of a general election was discussed, but "there was not a great deal of enthusiasm for a general election at this point", added the source.
They said: "It was agreed it wouldn't be the right thing to do."
Labour's Yvette Cooper has welcomed the prime minister's "recognition that she needs to avoid a damaging no-deal on April 12th".
She said:
When the cabinet secretary and national security adviser to the government had advised the cabinet that no-deal would make the country less safe, it would have been irresponsible of them not to listen. We do need a sensible approach and the prime minister needs to find a way to bring the country together, not just parliament.
We are waiting to find out further details on how the government's proposed process will work, including how decisions will be taken about the length and purpose of an extension, and how indicative votes will work to make sure we don't just end up with no-deal a bit later on.
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