国际英语新闻:British PM offers to talk with opposition leader on Brexit deadlock

LONDON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday offered to talk with opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in order to break the current Brexit deadlock.

In her statement on Tuesday evening after seven hours of a cabinet meeting, May offered to sit down with Corbyn to try to agree a plan which allows Britain to leave the European Union with a deal.

Corbyn later said he was "very happy" to meet May, adding he recognized his "responsibility to represent the people that supported Labour in the last election and the people who didn't support Labour".

Britain has until April 12, the latest Brexit date, to propose a plan to the European Union (EU), which must be accepted by them, or it will leave the regional bloc without a deal.

Meanwhile, the prime minister also said that she will seek a further extension to Article 50 following the eight-hour cabinet meeting in Downing Street.

"Leaving (the EU) with a deal is the best solution," May said in the televised statement.

"This debate, this division can not drag on much longer," she said. "It is putting members of parliament and everyone else under immense pressure, and it is doing damage to our politics."

Her statement came after MPs rejected all four proposed alternative options in a second round of "indicative votes" on Monday night, leading the chief European Union negotiator, Michel Barnier, to say that a no-deal Brexit was more likely.

May said she hopes the British parliament could still agree a deal with Brussels by May 22.

"This is a decisive moment in the story of story of these islands and it requires national unity to deliver the national interests," she added.