Brexit: Theresa May vows to delay EU departure to secure a deal and reaches out to Jeremy Corbyn
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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.
Environment secretary Michael Gove has told Sky News the Tory party is not going to split over Theresa May's new Brexit approach.
He said: "I don't think we're splitting - I think what we're doing is ensuring everybody is focused on making sure we leave the EU at the earliest possible point."
On the DUP saying they could not back the current deal, Mr Gove said: "We want the DUP to support our approach. I think it's important we leave the EU as one UK."
On his own leadership ambitions, Mr Gove added: "I'm concentrating on making sure we leave the EU, that is front and centre of my mind and everything else is secondary."
The EU's Brexit co-coordinator responds to Theresa May's statement:
"Another anti-climax from the queen of the let down," is my colleague Sean O'Grady's blunt assessment of the PM's Downing Street statement:
Business leaders have given a cautious welcome to Theresa May's decision to reach out to Jeremy Corbyn to seek a Brexit compromise, but as the clock ticks fears the UK could crash out of Europe without a deal remain high.
Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said:
The clock is still ticking, and avoiding a messy and disorderly exit from the EU is still the top priority for our business communities. The government must take firm action, now, to ensure that this is not allowed to happen by default.
The prime minister may have issued a revised road map, but business communities still have little sense of the destination. It's like being asked to follow a sat-nav to an unknown location - with the nagging worry that the directions may yet lead to a cliff.
The CBI's director general, Carolyn Fairburn, called on the Tories and Labour to set aside party politics and enter into talks in good faith:
Stephen Phipson, chief executive of Make UK, the manufacturers' organisation, said firms urgently needed to see "real progress":
The biggest risk facing UK manufacturers today is that we crash out of the EU without a deal.
We have consistently said this would be catastrophic for the close to three million people who work in our sector who produce almost half of all UK exports.
As a result we cautiously welcome the Prime Minister's decision to seek a parliamentary consensus to resolve the deadlock. However, short term extensions simply add to business uncertainty and extend the economic pain many of our members are already experiencing.
As a result, real progress must be made very quickly, otherwise a longer term solution must be sought.
"This wasn't party before country, it was party before party, and one of the parties wasn't even hers," writes Tom Peck, who sees unlikely parallels with Notting Hill in Theresa May's change of tack:
Tory backbencher and ERG member Henry Smith is pulling no punches May's decision to seek a compromise on Brexit:
The DUP - whose support Theresa May relies on for a Commons majority - has issued a scathing assessment of her handling of Brexit negotiations.
In a statement responding to the prime minister's Downing Street address earlier, the hard Brexit-supporting party said:
The Prime Minister's lamentable handling of the negotiations with the EU means she has failed to deliver a sensible Brexit deal that works for all parts of the United Kingdom. That is why she has not been able to get it through Parliament.
Her announcement therefore tonight comes as little surprise.
Though it remains to be seen if sub-contracting out the future of Brexit to Jeremy Corbyn, someone whom the Conservatives have demonised for four years, will end happily.
We want the result of the referendum respected, and just as we joined the Common Market as one country we must leave the EU as one country.
We will continue to use our position within Parliament and with the Government to argue strongly the case for Northern Ireland and the integrity of the United Kingdom.
We remain consistent in judging all Brexit outcomes against our clear unionist principles.
We're closing this live article now after what could prove to be pivotal day for Brexit. Thanks for reading.
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