Daily Mail

ANOTHER YEAR IN EU?

Britain faces a 12-month extension after talks with Corbyn deadlocked

- PAGES 14&15

BREXIT could be delayed for at least a year after cross-party talks to find a compromise deal ended in deadlock.

No 10 made a formal offer to Jeremy Corbyn yesterday setting out a series of negotiatin­g proposals after two days of talks.

But in a dismissive statement last night, a Labour spokesman accused the Government of offering ‘no real change or compromise’ and urged Theresa May to ‘come forward with genuine changes to her deal’.

The stalemate increased the chances of a lengthy delay to Brexit after European Council president Donald Tusk recommende­d offering the UK a 12-month extension next week. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Britain would have ‘no choice’ but to agree to a long postponeme­nt ‘if we can’t find a way through with Parliament’.

Labour’s Brexit spokesman Sir Keir Starmer last night accused No 10 of refusing to countenanc­e any changes to the wording of the political agreement setting out the likely shape of the EU trade deal.

‘That’s disappoint­ing – compromise requires change,’ he said.

Downing Street insisted ‘serious proposals’ were made during the discussion­s, including changes to the political declaratio­n, ‘in order to deliver a deal that is acceptable to both sides’.

In a sign of the depths of the stalemate, there was no indication that formal talks on the compromise would continue over the weekend. This week’s negotiatio­ns were initiated by the Prime Minister in a last- ditch effort to get Brexit through Parliament.

It came after Mrs May wrote to Mr Tusk to ask for an extension to the Article 50 process until the end of June to avoid No Deal. If the extension is refused, the UK would leave at 11pm next Friday.

The request included a ‘ break clause’ that would allow the UK to leave on May 22 if MPs have approved a deal by then. This would avoid Britain taking part in European Parliament elections. In the letter, Mrs May said she was ‘reluctantl­y’ requesting the extension as she seeks to resolve the Brexit ‘impasse’. She wrote: ‘It is frustratin­g that we have not yet brought this process to a successful and orderly conclusion.’

Brussels sources expect EU leaders to reject the second short extension to June 30 and insist on a much longer delay of a year or more, although it could take the form of a ‘flextensio­n’ that lets Britain leave early if it passes a deal.

Hardline Tory Brexiteers reacted with fury to the prospect of another delay. Backbenche­r John Redwood said: ‘No more delays. The Government should just get on with leaving the EU on April 12. Offer a free trade agreement and go. The talks with Mr Corbyn cannot result in an outcome that honours Brexit and pleases Leave voters.’

Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group of Euroscepti­c Tory MPs, said Britain should be ‘as difficult as possible’ in the event of a long extension and frustrate EU budget decisions.

Whitehall sources were downbeat about the chances of an agreement in the coming days. One said: ‘It seems Labour want to play this long. They seem happy to take part in the European elections.’

Cabinet ministers have suggested the Government is prepared to put a permanent customs union with the EU on the table – part of Labour’s Brexit plan. Labour’s proposal includes the UK accepting all EU employment and environmen­tal laws after leaving. But the party is deeply split, with its Europhile MPs demanding that Mr Corbyn secure a second referendum with Remain on the ballot paper.

One Shadow Cabinet source dismissed the idea that Mr Corbyn would secure a deal that could get through Parliament. ‘In all honesty [Mrs May] could pivot to precisely Labour’s position on Brexit and Labour MPs are still not going to vote for it,’ the source said.

No 10 is also considerin­g allowing the Commons to vote on a second referendum separately to the deal, with the expectatio­n that MPs would reject it.

Officials refused to say yesterday whether Mrs May would agree to a long extension if demanded by the EU. Two weeks ago she said she was ‘not prepared to delay Brexit any further than June 30’.

If the talks with Labour do not resume next week, she will have no progress to report when she goes to Brussels on Thursday to formally request the extension.

France piled on the pressure yesterday when it threatened to force No Deal if there was no prospect of an agreement in Parliament. A spokesman for French president Emmanuel Macron said it was ‘premature to talk of an extension’.

But Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar suggested a longer extension might be preferable, saying: ‘None of us want No Deal but we also want to avoid rolling extensions because that just adds to the uncertaint­y, so perhaps a longer extension might make more sense.’

‘Be as difficult as possible’

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