UK Brexit chief says May not offering a blank check in talks

Britain's Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn poses for the media with the Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future UK-EU relationship, in his office in the Houses of Parliament in London, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Opposition leader Corbyn says he is happy to sit down with Prime Minister Theresa May to work on a Brexit deal, even though "so far she hasn't shown much sign of compromise." The leader of the left-of-center Labour Party says "we recognize that she has made a move" and is willing to hold talks with May. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool Photo via AP)

LONDON — Britain’s Brexit secretary says the government is not offering a “blank check” to the opposition after Prime Minister Theresa May offered to meet with the Labour Party leader in hopes of ending the impasse over the U.K.’s departure from the European Union.

Steve Barclay told the BBC on Wednesday that some Labour proposals, such as a customs union with the EU, would be “very difficult” for the government to accept but both sides need to sit down and work out an agreement to avoid a damaging no-deal Brexit.

Barclay said: “We’re not setting pre-conditions, but nor is it a blank check.”

But he added that the “remorseless logic” of Parliament’s failure to back the prime minister’s withdrawal agreement with the EU is that Britain must move toward a softer form of Brexit.

The Associated Press