London: Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn have met to try to thrash out a unified plan for Brexit – but talks broke up without a result on Wednesday, as anger grew on both sides of politics over potential concessions.

The Prime Minister and Opposition leader are due to meet again before the end of the week, and their advisers will work in the meantime to discuss a possible agreement on a “soft” Brexit to put to parliament.

Jeremy Corbyn leaves his home in north London for talks with Theresa May.Credit:PA

Two junior ministers quit the May government in protest at the talks, and a group of Conservative MPs tried (but failed) to engineer a confidence vote on May’s leadership.

Meanwhile senior Labour MPs were trying to force Corbyn to insist on another Brexit referendum on any “unity Brexit” plan that emerged.

“There hasn’t been as much change [from the government] as I expected but we are continuing to have some discussions,” Corbyn said after the meeting, which he described as constructive. He wrote to MPs saying he had raised the prospect of a confirmatory referendum but May “remained resistant to this proposal”.

Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May addresses MP’s in Parliament. Credit:UK Parliament

May did not make a public statement after the discussions, but Downing Street issued a statement saying the talks were “constructive, with both sides showing flexibility and a commitment to bring the current Brexit uncertainty to a close”.

The two parties have engaged negotiating teams, assisted by civil servants, to continue the discussions on Thursday on a potential permanent customs union between the UK and European Union and “close single market alignment” – two options for a post-Brexit relationship that May has so far refused to accept, and which Labour has pushed for.

If talks fail to reach a unified position on Brexit, the leaders may instead agree on Parliament using preferential voting, most likely on Monday, to choose between four options: May’s Brexit deal, Corbyn’s plan, revocation of Brexit or a no-deal Brexit.

A disastrous no-deal Brexit is due on April 12, and the European Union has indicated it would only consider allowing another delay if the UK has come up with a clear plan.

Meanwhile, the House of Commons again seized control from the government in an attempt to push through a law that would force the government to seek another delay if a no-deal Brexit was imminent.

A group of minor parties and independents including the Scottish National Party and Liberal Democrats said they would try to amend the bill to ensure there would be a “people’s vote” in every scenario.

Parliament was due to vote on the bill late Wednesday night.

Nigel Adams, UK government minister for Wales and government whip, resigned on Wednesday saying May had “legitimised” Jeremy Corbyn.

Going nowhere fast: Prime Minister Theresa May and leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn in the House of Commons.Credit:AP

“You and your cabinet have decided that a deal – cooked up with a Marxist who has never once in his political life put British interests first – is better than no deal,” he said. “I profoundly disagree with this approach.”

He said it was clear the UK would end up in the EU Customs Union.

“This is not the Brexit my constituents were promised and it is contrary to the pledge we made in our manifesto,” he said. “It makes no sense to leave the EU and to have a situation where our trade policy and much of our law is made in Brussels.”

Government whip and junior Brexit minister Chris Heaton-Harris also resigned. He said May ruling out a no-deal Brexit “makes my job in government irrelevant”, and claimed May had not been properly briefed on the UK’s level of preparation for no-deal.

“Every time we seek an extension to this process we diminish faith in our political system,” he said.

May sent a letter to all Conservative MPs saying the government would have preferred to ratify the deal based on Conservative and DUP votes, “but having tried three times it is clear that is unlikely to happen”.

The footage of British soldiers was first uploaded to Snapchat then Twitter.Credit:UGC via AP

“With some colleagues unwilling to support the government in the division lobbies, this is the only way to deliver the smooth, orderly Brexit that we promised and for which the British people voted.”

The DUP accused May of “sub-contracting out the future of Brexit to Jeremy Corbyn”, and said it would not budge from “judging all Brexit outcomes against our clear unionist principles”.

The discussions came on a day it was revealed that British soldiers had used a poster of Corbyn for target practice.

Corbyn said he was shocked and called for an inquiry, linking the incident to a wider wave of anger and threats towards MPs.

“We cannot have violent intimidation in our society,” he said. “Yes, people have disagreements and divisions. Conduct those in a respectful way, don’t descend into something ugly and violent.”

On Tuesday it was revealed that Labour MP Rosie Cooper had been the target of a neo-Nazi murder plot.

“I was to be murdered to send a message,” Cooper said in Parliament on Wednesday. “Members of this house are regularly abused and attacked – our freedoms, our way of life, our democracy is under threat.”

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