May, Corbyn seeking Brexit breakthrough

Party leaders put aside personal rivalry to look for way forward on Europe talks

Britain's prime minister, Theresa May, and the leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, will get back around the negotiating table this week, seeking to break the Brexit deadlock that has paralyzed British politics.

The party leaders, fierce political rivals at the best of times, have agreed to bury the hatchet and work together on the sort of divorce deal the UK should seek from the European Union, and the type of relationship the country should have after the separation.

But, with both parties deeply divided on how, or even if, Britain should leave the EU, the leaders have been bombarded with criticism from factions within their own ranks.

Several Labour Party MPs have told Corbyn that anything he agrees with May could be worthless anyway, because she has already indicated she will step down as party leader in the near future. They say a future Conservative Party leader could ignore commitments she makes.

An open letter from the Love Socialism Hate Brexit campaign bears the signatures of more than 80 of Corbyn's Labour Party MPs, including four shadow Cabinet ministers, and demands that Corbyn secures a public referendum on any deal the leaders sign off on. The letter says any deal would have "no legitimacy" if it is not "confirmed by the public".

But a separate letter, also addressed to Corbyn, bears the signatures of 25 Labour Party MPs and insists that pushing for a second referendum would "divide the country f.urther and add uncertainty for business". It says calling on voters to rethink the 2016 referendum would "damage the trust of many core Labour voters and reduce our chances of winning a general election".

Senior Conservative Party MP Andrea Leadsom, wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that a second referendum would be "the ultimate betrayal".

"It would require lengthy delay, it would reignite the divisive debate, and since Parliament has so far failed to follow the first result, there is no reason to believe it would honor a second referendum either," she wrote.

May, meanwhile, is expected to fl y to Brussels on Wednesday seeking an extension to the UK's current leaving date of April 12, likely pushing it back to June 30. She faces criticism from some of her MPs.

Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab told the BBC that sitting down with Corbyn boosts Labour's chances of winning the next general election.

He wrote in the Mail on Sunday that it could "damage the Conservatives for years".

"There is now a danger that Brexit could be lost and that the government could fall－handing the keys to Downing Street to Corbyn," he wrote.

Other Conservative Party Brexiteers say Corbyn's insistence on the UK remaining a member of the EU's customs union, to facilitate the continued trading of tariff -free goods, would block the UK from striking its own trade deals with other nations. Former Conservative Party whip Michael Fabricant said it would solicit "open revolt" within the party.

The Sunday Telegraph said some Conservative Party grandees are so upset with May that they are refusing to campaign for the party. It said political donations had also "dried up".

High-profile Conservative backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg, an ardent hard-Brexit supporter, told Sky News the talks with Corbyn will fail because he "is a Remainer". He said May's failure to win support for her proposed deal from her own party was "her own creation" because she had not negotiated the right deal with the EU.

But it was not all doom and gloom. May says she is confident she and Corbyn share common ground, and indicated she may be prepared to include a "future-proof" commitment to guarantee to Corbyn that Britain would remain in a customs union with Brussels.

Rebecca Long-Bailey, the Labour Party's shadow business secretary and a member of Labour's Brexit negotiating team, said on the BBC's Andrew Marr program that the tone of talks so far had been "positive and hopeful" and that more sessions were slated for this week.

She said the focus had been on the UK and EU maintaining some form of close customs relationship, and ensuring that anything agreed upon gets legally-binding protection, so a future prime minister would have to honor it.

Philip Hammond, the UK's chancellor of the exchequer, said on Saturday the government did not have "red lines".

His comments have been interpreted by many people to mean that a deal between EU-friendly Conservatives and the Labour Party could be imminent.