May rejects Corbyn’s demand to rule out ‘no-deal’ Brexit – Spokesman says that government won’t accept delaying Brexit

The Labour leader has written a letter to all his MPs urging them not to “engage” with the government until the threat of no-deal has been removed.

He said “I wish to reiterate the points I raised at Prime Minister’s Questions and to formally set out the position of the Labour Party.

We are firmly of the opinion that the starting point for any talks about how to break the Brexit deadlock must be that the threat of a disastrous ‘no deal’ outcome is ruled out.

That is the position that Labour set out in our 2017 manifesto, at our 2018 party conference – and that we have consistently adhered to throughout

May told Corbyn demanding government rule out “no-deal” Brexit an “impossible condition”.

The prime minister has responded to the Labour leader’s letter earlier on Thursday, in which Mr Corbyn demanded she remove the threat of leaving without a deal before they can meet.

Mrs May said: “I note that you have said that ‘ruling out’ no deal is a precondition before we can meet, but that is an impossible condition because it is not within the Government’s power to rule out no deal.

“Let me explain why. Under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union and the Withdrawal Act 2018, we will leave the EU without a deal on 29 March unless Parliament either agrees a deal with the EU or the UK revokes Article 50 and chooses to stay in the EU permanently.

“So there are two way to avoid no deal: either vote for a deal, in particular a Withdrawal Agreement, that has been agreed with the EU, or to revoke Article 50 and overturn the referendum result. I believe it would be wrong to overturn the referendum result.”

Mrs May added in her letter: “I do not believe that the EU would agree to extend our membership simply to allow further debate on Brexit in the UK. As politicians, we have a responsibility not to simply say what we want, but also to explain how we can achieve it.

“I recognise that you would want to put forward your own proposals and I would be happy to discuss them with you. You have always believed in the importance of dialogue in politics. Do you really believe that, as well as declining to meet for talks yourself, it is right to ask your MPs not to seek a solution with the government?”

Meanwhile the PM’s spokeswoman has just been taking questions from journalists at their twice-daily briefing.  She says that if the EU offered to extend Article 50 – delaying Brexit – the UK would say no. She adds that talks with opposition politicians to find a way to break the Brexit deadlock in parliament have been “constructive”. The PM will also be holding talks EU leaders in the next few days.