Theresa May pushes Brexit deadline back to JULY – as she’s warned against stitch-up with Corbyn
The PM could see her leadership collapse if she hatches a soft Brexit deal with Labour
THERESA May was today warned against a Brexit stitch-up which would leave Britain tied to the EU for good - as she pushed the deadline for quitting to July.
The PM's future is on the line as she enters the endgame of talks with Jeremy Corbyn to find a Brexit compromise.
Mrs May and the Labour boss are aiming to come up with a deal which can finally make it through the House of Commons.
The pair are expected to agree on a temporary customs union expiring by the next election in 2022, to allow the next Government to decide on the future path of Brexit.
But today ministers were forced to admit it's too late to avoid taking part in the EU elections on May 23 - setting the summer holidays as the new deadline.
Mrs May's deputy David Lidington said: "We will be redoubling our efforts and talks with MPs of all parties to try to make sure that the delay after that is as short as possible.
"Ideally we'd like to be in a situation where those MEPs never actually have to take their seat at European Parliament, certainly to get this done and dusted by the summer recess."
Parliament is likely to break up for the summer around late July.
BREXIT WARNING
And Jeremy Hunt warned Mrs May against a deal which ties Britain to Brussels permanently.
He told the BBC: "I think this is a time when we have to be willing to make compromises on all sides because the message of last week was that voters for both main parties are very, very angry about the fact that Brexit hasn't been delivered.
"I personally think that any kind of permanent customs union wouldn't work in the long run because our economy is too big, but let's see what the parties come up with."
Entering the talks in Whitehall this afternoon, Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer said: "The time has now come to a crunch time where the Government has to decide whether it's serious about significant changes capable of actually carrying a majority in the House of Commons."
Brexiteer backbenchers said the compromise would be the last straw for Mrs May's leadership.
Nigel Evans blasted: "If she comes out of those talks offering something which is Brexit in name only then she has got a real problem."
Veteran Eurosceptic Bill Cash added: "The time has come for her to resign. She needs to be given a date - the sooner the better."
Sir Graham Brady, head of the powerful 1922 Committee of Tory MPs, will see the PM this evening and demand that she name her departure date.
Labour is also bitterly divided over the cross-party Brexit talks.
What's in the draft Brexit deal agreed by May and Corbyn?
1) Temporary customs union
Britain would stay in the customs union until the next General Election in 2022.
The newly elected Government would then be able to choose whether to stay in - meaning the UK has no independent trade policy - or break out.
2) Single market rules
The UK would keep the EU single market's rules on a wide range of goods to ensure businesses can still export to Europe.
Brexiteers keen for the chance to cut red tape would be angry with the move.
3) Workers' rights
The Government would pass a new law dictating that the UK will maintain all workers' rights guaranteed by the EU.
That would mean that whenever Brussels changes the existing rules, Britain would automatically adopt the new version too.
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Today Andrew Gwynne, a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn, said the party's support for a second referendum had hurt Labour in the local elections.
He wrote in the Guardian: "It is clear from the reaction on the doorstep that the talk about another referendum was a difficult message to explain to many of our traditional voters."
But other Labour MPs have vowed to vote against any Brexit deal which doesn't include a so-called "people's vote".
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