Brexit plan search goes on

UK govt and opposition hold ‘constructive’ talks as deadline looms

LONDON: The British government and senior opposition figures were scheduled to meet in search of a new plan on how the country will leave the European Union, as Prime Minister Theresa May tried to stop her shift toward compromise from splitting her Conservative Party.

May faced fury from anti-EU Conservatives after she agreed to talks with Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who favours a softer form of Brexit than that advocated by the government.

Two junior ministers have resigned and more could follow.

May and Corbyn met for two hours on Wednesday, with both sides calling the talks “constructive”. Government and Labour teams planned more detailed discussions yesterday.

Treasury chief Philip Hammond said both parties needed to be flexible to break the Brexit impasse.

“When you enter into a negotiation like this to find a compromise way forward, both parties have to give something up,” he told ITV television yesterday. “There is going to be pain on both sides.”

Britain’s political paralysis over Brexit has left the country facing a possible cliff-edge departure from the EU in just over a week.

After UK lawmakers thrice rejected an agreement struck between the bloc and May late last year, the EU gave Britain until April 12 to approve a withdrawal agreement, change course and seek a further delay to Brexit, or crash out of the bloc with no deal to cushion the shock.

Economists and business leaders warn that a no-deal Brexit would cause huge disruption to trade and travel, with tariffs and customs checks causing gridlock at British ports and possible shortages of goods.

Lawmakers desperate to avoid a chaotic exit have seized control of the parliamentary agenda to pass a hastily drafted Bill that compels May to ask for an extension to the Brexit deadline if a no-deal departure is looming.

The Bill was approved by the House of Commons on Wednesday by a single vote, and was debated yesterday in Parliament’s upper chamber, the House of Lords.

If it passes, May will have to go to a special EU Brexit summit in Brussels on April 10 to seek a delay.

The EU is not compelled to agree. Leaders of the bloc, exasperated by the chaos in London, say they will only grant a delay to Brexit if Britain comes up with a workable new plan.

French President Emmanuel Macron, one of the leaders most resistant to a further Brexit extension, has warned that the bloc can’t be held “hostage” to Britain’s crisis.