May- Corbyn talks spark fury

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British Prime Minister Theresa  May is seen outside Downing Street in London.— Reuters
British Prime Minister Theresa  May is seen outside Downing Street in London.- Reuters

London - May also said she would ask the EU for a further delay to Britain's departure date.

By AP

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Published: Wed 3 Apr 2019, 10:00 PM

Last updated: Thu 4 Apr 2019, 12:51 AM

Britain's Brexit drama went into overtime on Wednesday as Prime Minister Theresa May and the country's main opposition sought a compromise deal to prevent an abrupt British departure from the European Union at the end of next week.
In an about-face that left pro-Brexit members of May's Conservative Party howling with outrage, May sought to forge an agreement with left-wing Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn after failing three times to win Parliament's backing for her Brexit deal.
May also said she would ask the EU for a further delay to Britain's departure date - postponed once already - to avert a chaotic and economically damaging no-deal Brexit on April 12.
"The country needs a solution, the country deserves a solution, and that's what I'm working to find," May told lawmakers before meeting Corbyn for about two hours.
Afterward, both the government and Labour called the meeting "constructive" and said their teams would hold more in-depth talks today.
May's office said both sides had shown "flexibility and a commitment to bring the current Brexit uncertainty to a close."
Corbyn, more muted, said the meeting was useful but inconclusive. "There hasn't been as much change as I expected," he said.
May's change of direction left her caught between angry Conservatives who accuse her of throwing away Brexit, and Labour opponents mistrustful of her sudden change of heart. Lanour's shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry wrote to all Labour MPs saying Corbyn must insist that any Brexit deal reached with the government is put to a public vote.
Pro-Brexit Conservatives, meanwhile, expressed outrage. Two junior ministers quit, and other lawmakers angrily accused May of putting the socialist Corbyn in the Brexit driver's seat.
 


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