TALKS BETWEEN UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Prime Minister Theresa May have collapsed after six weeks of negotiations.
The sides had been talking at length since early April in a bid to break the Brexit impasse but today Corbyn pulled the plug on the negotiations.
In a letter to May, the Labour leader said the talks had “gone as far as they can” and that he had no confidence in the government securing any deal the two sides might have struck because of the erosion of the May’s authority.
Corbyn has said “we have been unable to bridge important policy gaps between us” and that the “increasing weakness and instability” of the government made striking a lasting agreement impossible.
Sky News reports that Downing Street has confirmed that no further talks are planned with a spokesperson saying they were “absolutely in the national interest”.
The breakdown in talks comes after May agreed yesterday to set out a timetable for her resignation as Tory leader next month.
May has agreed with her party’s backbench 1922 Committee that she will make clear her intentions after her Brexit Withdrawal Agreement again goes before the House of Commons in the first week of June.
The chairperson of the 1922 Committee Graham Brady has said May will discuss her resignation plans whether or not the Withdrawal Agreement passes parliament.
A statement from Brady said that May is seeking the UK’s exit from the EU in the coming months:
The prime minister is determined to secure our departure from the European Union and is devoting her efforts to securing the 2nd reading of the withdrawal agreement bill in the week commencing 3rd June 2019 and the passage of that bill and the consequent departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union by the summer.
MPs have voted against May’s Withdrawal Agreement on three occasions.
May’s confirmation of her intention to step down had been widely expected and former foreign secretary Boris Johnson had earlier told the BBC’s Huw Edwards that he will contest a leadership contest.
With reporting from © – AFP 2019
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