Mr Hunt insisted the talks with Jeremy Corbyn are proceeding despite the “pessimistic” outlook taken by observers. The Foreign Secretary, who is in Brussels for a meeting of EU ministers, however, rejected the possibility of a second referendum being part of any cross-party Brexit deal. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer this weekend suggested that any cross-party deal must include a confirmatory vote.

But Mr Hunt insisted it remains the Government’s policy to implement the result of the historic 2016 EU referendum.

He told reporters in Brussels: “We are talking to the Labour leadership, we have had very detailed discussions.

“People have been pessimistic that these discussions won’t go anywhere but they have continued, this is a crunch week.”

On the possibility of a second Brexit vote, he added: “From the Conservative’s point of view, we have always said it would be a betel of what people voted for and we want to implement the first referendum.”

Talks between Labour and the Government continue today as they seek to reach a deal to break the Brexit impasse in Westminster.

Sir Keir told the Guardian that it was unlikely the two sides would be able to reach a deal without a referendum being part of the package.

He also warned Theresa May that any deal could be damaged by setting out her departure from Downing Street.

Sir Keir said: “If the vote that is progressive is split then all that does is open up the path for the Brexit Party and allow it to pretend it represents the majority view in the country.

“On the critical issues, like a close economic relationship with the EU, and a confirmatory vote, only Labour can deliver on those.”

He added: “A significant number of Labour MPs, probably 120 if not 150, would not back a deal if it hasn’t got a confirmatory vote.

“If the point of the expertise is to get a sustainable majority, over several weeks or months of delivering on the implementation, you can’t leave a confirmatory vote out of the package.”

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