Labour and the Conservatives are said to be closer to agreeing a deal over Brexit after further talks this week.
Theresa May’s supposed “red lines”, sticking points in negotiations, have reportedly been moved, potentially allowing more compromise with Labour to get a Brexit deal through the House of Commons.
One Labour source said, “there wasn’t complete movement but there was movement.”
One of the crucial sticking points in negotiations is Labour desiring a customs union with the EU, but Theresa May’s position is that the United Kingdom will be leaving the customs union, at least in name.
It is not known whether this is the issue the parties have compromised on.
Talks are set to continue this week between Labour and the Conservatives, represented by Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and Theresa May’s ad hoc deputy David Lidington, respectively.
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has warned that any deal agreed with the Labour Party may be even more unpopular with Conservative MPs than Mrs May’s previous withdrawal deal which has so far been rejected three times by the House of Commons.
“There is always a danger of doing a deal with Labour that [means] you lose more Conservative MPs than you gain Labour MPs, but I think the essential question is whether Labour are serious about delivering Brexit,” said the Cabinet minister, who backed Remain in the 2016 referendum.
Mrs May has previously come under fire from her own party regarding a deal with Labour. Former Foreign Secretary and Brexit supporter Boris Johnson denounced the party’s hard-left leader as a “Marxist” and said “it seems utterly incredible that he has now been invited into Downing Street to negotiate a Brexit deal… [and] to get Corbyn onside, the Government is apparently willing to abandon the cardinal principle and central logic of Brexit.”
Labour, meanwhile, are meeting later today to discuss whether to include plans for a second Brexit referendum in their EU election campaign.
So far all four Welsh Labour MEP candidates have called for Labour to include the pledge in their manifesto for the elections due on May 23rd.
Along with other party members, they wrote that “without this it is clear from our recent doorstep campaigning we risk losing substantial support to other parties – particularly Plaid Cymru which could have a substantial risk for our future assembly, council and Westminster campaigns – and in so doing also risk letting Nigel Farage win seats in Wales”.
Labour’s party conference has already demanded that the party should seek a second referendum with Remain as an option, and Labour’s national executive committee will determine whether the policy will feature in the party’s election manifesto shortly.