Theresa May has offered to sit down with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to try and agree on a Brexit plan which can be passed by the House of Commons.
The Prime Minister said she will seek a further extension to Article 50 in an attempt to avoid a no deal Brexit and push the withdrawal agreement through parliament.
Speaking outside 10 Downing Street on Tuesday evening after a marathon session of Cabinet lasting over seven hours, the Tory leader said: “Leaving with a deal is the best solution, so we will need a further extension of article 50. One that is as short as possible and which ends when we pass a deal.
“And we need to be clear what such an extension is for.”
Mrs May offered to hold talks with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to agree a plan acceptable to both, which can be put to the House of Commons ahead of the April 10 summit of the European Council.
She said a bill to pave the way for departure would have to be in place by May 22 to ensure the UK did not have to take part in European Parliament elections.
Mrs May said: “The ideal outcome of this process would be to agree an approach on a future relationship that delivers on the result of the referendum, that both the leader of the Opposition and I could put to the House for approval and which I could then take to next week’s European Council.
“However, if we cannot agree on the single unified approach, then we would instead agree a number of options for the future relationship that we could put to the House in a series of votes to determine which course to pursue.
“Crucially, the Government stands ready to abide by the decision of the House. But to make this process work, the opposition would need to agree to this too.
This is a decisive moment in the story of these islands and it will require national unity to deliver the national interest.
“This debate, this division, can not drag on much longer.
“Despite the best efforts of MPs, we have not come up with an answer.”
