May, Tusk chat amid hopes of elusive breakthrough

LONDON» British Prime Minister Theresa May and European Council President Donald Tusk spoke by phone Wednesday amid signs of movement in deadlocked Brexit talks.

Tusk tweeted that the pair spoke “to take stock of progress in #brexit talks and discuss way ahead.” Tusk has said that he is willing to call a special EU summit if there are new proposals from Great Britain to unblock talks.

May’s Cabinet has been inching closer to agreeing to a common stance on the key issue — maintaining an open border between EU member Ireland and the U.K.’s Northern Ireland after Great Britain leaves the EU. The emerging plan involves keeping the U.K. in a customs union with the EU until a permanent trade treaty is worked out, to remove the need for border checks.

But some pro-Brexit Cabinet ministers want to see legal advice drawn up by Attorney General Geoffrey Cox before they agree to anything. They fear Great Britain being locked permanently into a customs union with the EU, which would limit the U.K.’s ability to strike new trade deals around the world.

Opposition Labour Party spokesman Keir Starmer said the legal advice should be published, because “the public has the right to know precisely what the Cabinet has signed up to and what the implications are for the future.”

Great Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, but divorce negotiations have been hamstrung by divisions within May’s Conservative government over how close an economic relationship to seek with the bloc.

Some ministers — including Treasury chief Philip Hammond — want to keep closely aligned with EU rules to avoid barriers to business with Great Britain’s biggest trading partner. Pro-Brexit Cabinet members want a cleaner break so that the U.K. can set its own trade policies and sign new deals around the world.