Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn meet after cabinet agrees not to kill off Brexit talks
Labour warns that "we haven't seen the significant shift yet that we require to be able to support a deal".
Tuesday 14 May 2019 20:59, UK
Ministers have agreed not to kill off Brexit compromise talks with Labour, according to Downing Street.
Theresa May's spokesman said a high-stakes meeting of the cabinet saw them debate compromises they could hand to the opposition.
The prime minister and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn are currently meeting in parliament to discuss the latest on the talks.
Sky sources say she has told Mr Corbyn that she plans to bring the Withdrawal Agreement Bill to the Commons in the first week of June.
This is a key piece of Brexit legislation which enshrines the PM's Brexit plan into UK law.
Those familiar with No 10's thinking have previously told Sky News that the government would load the WAB with trinkets for different parliamentary factions in order to have at least a glimmer of hope that it might be approved by MPs.
Mrs May's spokesman added that a "whole range of issues" were raised at cabinet - including a customs union with the EU.
It was described by Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell as absolutely key to backing an EU divorce deal to help it pass through parliament.
But 13 former senior ministers warned Mrs May earlier in the day that she would split the Conservatives by capitulating to the demand.
Number 10 could not say how long the talks would last, but Mrs May's spokesman insisted "we need to get on with this" and pass the law paving the way for Brexit before MPs go on their summer break.
He also denied the prime minister's chief Brexit adviser was in Brussels to ask the EU for changes to the "future relationship" half of the deal.
But speaking simultaneously at a Wall Street Journal event, Mr McDonnell talked down the immediate prospect of a compromise being struck.
"We haven't seen the significant shift yet that we require to be able to support a deal," he said.
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"We are not near what we want.
"Our big problem now is, if we are going to march our troops in parliament to the top of the hill to vote for a deal and that's then overturned within weeks, I think that would be a cataclysmic act of bad faith."
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said both main parties would be "crucified" by voters if they fail to sort out Brexit and deliver on the 2016 referendum result.
Mr Hunt told the Wall Street Journal CEO Council conference in London that the cross-party talks went against the political DNA of both parties.
He said: "I think it's actually impressive that it's lasted as long at it has. But, I don't think anyone can be confident of an outcome one way or the other."
Earlier, Nigel Evans, a Tory MP who sits on the executive of the 1922 committee of backbenchers, called the talks a "cosmetic exercise".
He told Sky News that accepting a customs union would "risk losing the middle-ground completely".
Britain is on track to leave the EU by 31 October, or earlier if Mrs May can get a Brexit deal ratified before then.
Because of this delay it will elect a new cohort of MEPs to the European Parliament next Thursday.
Mrs May's EU divorce deal failed three times to pass in the Commons and she subsequently sought two delays to Brexit to avoid a no-deal exit.
She called for a "national unity" approach and asked Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for talks six weeks ago.