U.K. Chancellor Philip Hammond said on Saturday he is “optimistic” the British government will come to “some form of agreement” with opposition Labour Party in talks aimed at breaking the Brexit deadlock.
Talks with the Labour Party over the Brexit deal “are continuing,” Hammond said on his way into a meeting of EU finance ministers in Bucharest, adding that he expected the parties to exchange “some more texts” on Saturday.
The Labour Party said Friday it was “disappointed that the government has not offered real change or compromise.” British Prime Minister Theresa May opened talks with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn earlier this week, seeking a cross-party consensus on Brexit following a third defeat for her Brexit Withdrawal Agreement in the House of Commons last Friday.
Hammond said he was “optimistic that we will reach some form of agreement with Labour,” insisting the government had “no red lines” and “an open mind.”
The U.K. is currently set to leave the EU on April 12. The British PM wrote to European Council President Donald Tusk on Friday morning asking for a further extension of Article 50 until June 30.
Hammond said he was “optimistic” about the outcome of a special Brexit summit in Brussels on Wednesday, when the European Council will meet to considerwhether to grant the U.K. another extension.
“I understand that EU colleagues are somewhat fed up that the process is taking as long as it has,” he said. “But I’m very confident we’ll get it done.”