UK holds out hope for a compromise

CROSS-PARTY talks to jumpstart plans for Brexit are expected to resume before the UK’s April 12 deadline for leaving the European Union, and the opposition Labour Party is hopeful the country’s political impasse can be resolved, a party negotiator said Sunday, April 7.

British Prime Minister Theresa May reluctantly reached out to Labour lawmakers after Parliament voted down her divorce deal with the EU for the third time. The move infuriated pro-Brexit lawmakers in her Conservative Party, and three days of bargaining with the opposition didn’t yield an agreement.

While Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn faulted the government, saying it showed no willingness to budge from its previous Brexit positions, Labour business minister Rebecca Long-Bailey held out hope and said more talks are expected.

The discussions’ “overall mood is quite a positive and hopeful one” despite the government’s “disappointing” failure to shift its stance on several issues, she said.

“The sad thing is at the moment, we haven’t seen overall any real changes to the deal, but we are hopeful that will change in coming days, and we are willing to continue the talks as we know the government are,” Long-Bailey told the BBC.

“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,” she added.

May acknowledged that the government had failed to get the withdrawal deal she struck with the EU despite her best efforts. That left her with no choice but to reach out to the opposition, she said.

May warned that any Brexit could “slip through our fingers” unless a cross-party compromise was found. /