Labour has denied Theresa May’s claim she has made “multiple requests” to meet Jeremy Corbyn for Brexit talks.
The prime minister said on Friday had failed to engage in dialogue since their meeting on January 30. “After multiple requests from my office he has offered just one hour over the last five weeks when our teams could meet,” she said.
But a Labour Party spokesperson said: “We have not received a request for Theresa May to meet with Jeremy Corbyn since their first meeting.”
It came as May delivered a speech designed to persuade MPs to back her Brexit deal when it is put to a vote on Tuesday.
She warned “no one knows” what will happen if the Commons once again, as expected, rejects her plan.
May said she needed the support of Remainers, who believe in honouring the result and do not want to leave without a deal, as well as Brexiteers, who “accept that compromise is necessary if we are to bring our country back together”.
If the Commons votes down her deal, the PM has pledged to give MPs a vote on accepting a no-deal Brexit or on delaying Brexit.
The prime minister also urged Brussels to give ground in order to help her deal survive the crunch vote by agreeing changes to the Northern Ireland backstop measures.
But Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar has said that the British gvernment has failed to offer any solutions.
Speaking in Dublin on Friday, he said: “I would argue that the Withdrawal Agreement, including the protocol in Ireland, is already a compromise.”
The EU said technical discussions are ongoing and it insisted Brussels has come forward with ideas to resolve the deadlock.
European Commission spokesman Alex Winterstein told reporters in Brussels: “The EU side has offered ideas on how to give further reassurances regarding the backstop. You are aware of all this.”
Corbyn said the PM’s speech was “a sign of desperation” and promised to oppose the deal again when it came to the Commons, instead continuing to push his own proposals for a customs union and access to the single market.
He said his party’s priority was to stop a no-deal Brexit, but insisted Labour was not “backing away” from a second referendum. “What we’re saying is the priority at this moment is to stop a no-deal exit.”