Cross-party Brexit talks collapse as Corbyn tells May they have "gone as far as they can"

Cross-party Brexit talks have collapsed, with Jeremy Corbyn telling Theresa May they have “gone as far as they can”.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Labour leader said: "I believe the talks between us about finding a compromise agreement on leaving the European Union have now gone as far as they can."

He added: "While there are some areas where compromise has been possible, we have been unable to bridge important policy gaps between us.

"Even more crucially, the increasing weakness and instability of your government means there cannot be confidence in securing whatever might be agreed between us."

The collapse of talks are the latest blow for Mrs May, who is facing pressure to set a date for his resignation as Prime Minister.

The PM is due to set out the timetable for her departure in early June after a crunch Commons vote on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill.

Speaking in north London, Mr Corbyn said the Government had not moved its position "fundamentally" and divisions in the Conservative Party meant it is a "Government that is negotiating with no authority and no ability, that I can see, to actually deliver anything".

News of the collapse of talks, which have been taking place for the past six weeks, came as no surprise to some, with critics saying they were pointless in the first place.

Former International Development Secretary Priti Patel wrote on Twitter: “Many of us did question the judgement of the Cabinet when they approved those talks...”

The post quote-tweeted a post from Brexit campaigner Darren Grimes who described the talks as "a complete waste of time from the outset".

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Labour's Hilary Benn, chairman of the Brexit Select Committee, earlier said there was little point in continuing the cross-party talks if they were going nowhere.

"It doesn't come as a great surprise to me because over the six weeks they've been going it doesn't appear that much progress has been made," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"If there's not going to be any progress then there wouldn't be much point in carrying on."

Meanwhile Tory former Cabinet minister Nicky Morgan warned that aligning with the Brexit Party would be the "death knell" for the Tories.