THERESA May goaded Jeremy Corbyn over the cross-party Brexit talks, saying he was happy to talk to the likes of Hamas, Hezbollah and the IRA without preconditions but declined to talk to her about Britain’s departure from the EU.
In another fractious Prime Minister’s Questions, the Labour leader hit back, noting how he had “reached out” to the PM last September when he had offered to discuss Labour’s plans with her.
“It appears that, while the door to her office may well be open, the minds inside it are completely closed,” he declared, adding: “She has shown no flexibility whatsoever on taking no-deal off the table.”
Later, Mr Corbyn’s spokesman described Mrs May’s reference to Hamas, Hezbollah and the IRA as “demeaning”.
The Labour leader insisted that Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, had assured business leaders that amendments would be put down at Westminster to remove the “threat” of no-deal.
But the PM dismissed amendments that sought to “engineer a situation” whereby the Article 50 process was extended.
“That does not solve the issue that there will always be a point of decision. The decision remains the same: no deal; a deal or no Brexit. I am delivering on Brexit. I want to do it with a deal. Why will he not come and meet me and talk about it?” she asked.
Mr Corbyn replied: “The only consistency in the Prime Minister’s strategy seems to be running down the clock by threatening no deal as an alternative to her dead deal.”
Noting how David Gauke, the Justice Secretary, had suggested the Government could not rule out a customs union with the EU, and that Andrea Leadsom, the Commons Leader, had made clear the UK could not be in a customs union, the Labour leader asked if the PM would rule out membership of a customs union.
Mrs May again said she would be happy to sit down to talk to him about what he meant by a customs union, saying: “Does he mean accepting the common external tariff? Does he mean accepting the common commercial policy? Does he mean accepting the Union customs code? Does he mean accepting EU state aid rules?
“If he will not talk about it, there is only one conclusion: he hasn’t got a clue,” she insisted.
Mr Corbyn later accused Mrs May of being prepared to "sell people's jobs and living standards down the river" rather than negotiate a customs union.
But the PM defended her approach to securing a Brexit deal before saying: "He is doing exactly what he always does; he just stands up, uses these phrases, and the honest answer is I don't think he knows what those phrases mean and what the implications of those phrases are."
For the SNP, Ian Blackford took Mrs May to task over her failure to have a specific impact analysis of the Government’s current Brexit Plan, saying it was the “height of irresponsibility” not to have drawn up one.
“People up and down the UK are going to lose their jobs and economic opportunities because of the ideology of this Government. It is important that the House reflects on that and on the economic security of our citizens. We have to be honest with people. We need to go back to them, have a People’s Vote and let them determine what should happen,” insisted the Highland MP.
Mrs May said the Government was considering the economic security of the country by setting out an ambitious future trade deal with the EU.
She then challenged Mr Blackford, saying: “It is no good his dismissing the figures and the economic analysis that show that being part of the UK is worth £10 billion in additional public spending and nearly £1,900 for every single person in Scotland.
“If he is interested in economics, he should want to stay in the UK and stop his policy of independence.”
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