Brexit: 5 fast facts you need this morning as cross-party talks enter third day

Top-level talks aimed at finding a way out of the Brexit deadlock will continue between the Government and Labour on Friday.

The discussions are taking place as Prime Minister Theresa May faces a week of hectic diplomacy as she battles to keep her EU withdrawal agenda on track.

Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn’s negotiating teams met for four-and-a-half hours in the Cabinet Office on Thursday for “productive” and “detailed” talks.

The talks are aimed at finding a consensus Brexit position ahead of a crunch summit of European Union leaders in Brussels on April 10.

David Lidington, effectively the deputy prime minister, led the Government’s negotiating team with Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay, Chief Whip Julian Smith, Business Secretary Greg Clark and Theresa May’s chief of staff Gavin Barwell.

On the other side of the table were shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer and shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey along with senior Labour officials.

1) Theresa May’s Brexit ministers discuss second referendum with Labour

Theresa May’s ministers have discussed the possibility of giving MPs a vote on a second referendum during talks with Labour, the Telegraph reports.

Arriving for talks with the government yesterday, Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer confirmed that a “confirmatory” referendum was among the ideas on the table for discussion.

It came after Deputy Leader Tom Watson and Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry have urged Labour’s leader to demand any deal he signs with Theresa May is put to a public vote.

A Labour source told the Mirror any deal agreed would need a public vote for the party to back it.

But Mr Corbyn has indicated he would only back a referendum “to prevent crashing out or leaving on a bad deal.”

2) Lords put off next stage of the Yvette Cooper bill until next week

The House of Lords had planned to sit through the night to discuss and vote on extending the Brexit process in an attempt to avoid a no-deal departure all in one sitting.

But Chief Whip John Taylor struck a deal with Labour to avoid peers having to vote through the night.

The remaining stages of the European Union Withdrawal (No.5) Bill will be considered by peers on Monday, threatening a new political headache for the PM if it is approved.

The Bill, brought forward by backbenchers including Labour’s Yvette Cooper, allows Parliament to determine the length of any Brexit extension the Prime Minister should request at the EU summit on April 10.

If the European Council proposes a different extension, Mrs May would be required to return to the Commons to obtain MPs’ approval.

3)  Angela Merkel says Germany ‘will stand with Ireland’

German chancellor Angela Merkel said she was moved by the stories of people living in Irish border communities who were affected by the Troubles.

Ms Merkel said Germany will stand with Ireland “every step of the way” over Brexit.

Ms Merkel met with a panel of 15 people from Protestant and Catholic communities, both unionists and nationalists, from both sides of the border.

Speaking in Dublin, she said: “Today was a very important experience for me. I come from a country that for many, many years was divided by a wall.

“I lived behind the Iron Curtain so I know only too well what it means once borders vanish.”

She added that “everything needs to be done” to ensure a peaceful co-operation continues.

“After all, a heavy death toll has been taken here throughout the Troubles,” she said.

“What I have heard here will encourage me to explore ways and means to ensure this peaceful co-existence continues,” she added.

Representatives from the Irish border communities who met with the chancellor say they were impressed by her knowledge of the issue.

Ms Merkel travelled to Dublin on Thursday to meet with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Dublin’s Farmleigh House to discuss Brexit, and show solidarity with Ireland amid the Brexit negotiations.

4) EU offers the UK a year-long extension

It’s understood that EU officials are considering offering the PM a flexible extension – or “flextension” – to the Article 50 timetable.

The European council president, who is said to have described the plan as “the only reasonable way out”, will tell leaders at a summit on Wednesday the idea would avoid them having to consider extra  Brexit delays every few weeks.

The idea is to grant a year-long extension but give the UK the chance to end it early when a deal is passed.

European Council president Donald Tusk is preparing to put the option to EU leaders at a crunch summit next Wednesday in a bid to prevent the UK crashing out of the bloc on April 12, according to the BBC.

It is understood that Theresa May is

4) Jeremy Corbyn updated his MPs on negotiations

Jeremy Corbyn wrote to Labour MPs to update them on the negotiation.

In a letter to the Parliamentary Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn wrote that the teams discussed “customs arrangements, single market alignment including rights and protections, agencies and programmes, internal security, legal underpinning to any agreements and confirmatory vote”. 

Mr Corbyn continued: “We are now expecting to hear more from the Government.  

“These talks are continuing, the teams are planning to meet again and we will continue to update the PLP.” Attorney General defends negotiating with Labour leader

5) Attorney General Geoffrey Cox defends inviting Jeremy Corbyn to Brexit talks

Mr Cox hit back after a furious backlash from Conservative MPs and activists

Tory MPs led calls against the the strategy.

Johnny Mercer told The Specator magazine: “We’ll get top-sliced and bottom-sliced by those who don’t want any Brexit – and those who want a Ukip version of Brexit.

“We’ll just get left behind and Jeremy Corbyn will be prime minister.”

But Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said the government “must use any lawful means” to secure EU withdrawal”.Mr Cox said that if Government discussions with Labour fail to deliver an agreement the UK faced a long extension to Article 50.

The Attorney General suggested that in such circumstances Prime Minister Theresa May would have little choice but to accept what the EU offered her.

Welcoming the cross-party talks, Mr Cox told BBC Radio 4’s Political Thinking with Nick Robinson podcast: “I say we must use any means to secure the ends, any lawful means.

“We are assisting at the birth of something new.”Births are not always easy and we must take the necessary steps to achieve our departure.”

Asked if that meant Mr Corbyn would be the midwife, the Attorney General replied: “So be it. What matters is this is born.”