Prime Minister Theresa May announced a shift in her approach to Brexit by calling on the opposition Labour party to forge an agreed approach to break the Brexit impasse.
She said she would seek a further extension to the UK leaving the EU until the end of May.
If the two major political parties could not “agree on a single, unified approach”, Parliament would be given another chance to indicate its preferred way, Mrs May said.
“Today I am taking action to break the logjam,” she said. “I am offering to sit down with the leader of the opposition to try to agree on a plan that we would both stick to, to ensure that we leave the EU and that we do so with a deal.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he would meet Mrs May to discuss the opportunity and work on a joint plan.
“I recognise my responsibility to represent the people who supported Labour in the last election and the people who didn’t support Labour, but nevertheless want certainty and security for their own future,” Mr Corbyn told the Press Association.
“And that’s the basis on which we will meet her and we will have those discussions.”
The call for a unified approach followed a nine-hour Cabinet session as senior ministers hammered out a road map.
Mr Corbyn is likely to favour a closer relationship with the EU through a Customs union.
Mrs May said she understood British people were fed up with the constant delays and political infighting.
“This division cannot drag on,” she said in a speech to the nation.
Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, responded on Twitter to the British leader’s speech.
“Even if, after today, we don’t know what the result is, let us be patient,” Mr Tusk said.
Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party, which holds 35 seats in the House of Commons, said that a general election would break the impasse.
Hard-line Brexiteers, such as former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, were disappointed at the news that Mrs May would consult the Labour leader.
Brexit was becoming “soft to the point of disintegration”, Mr Johnson told Sky News.
He said the country was now likely to remain in a Customs union with the EU, in a much softer form of Brexit.
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