May sparks Tory fury by ‘offering to let MPs decide whether there should be a second referendum’ as Hammond joins Labour talks and his aide prepares to speak at People’s Vote rally

• The PM is said to have made the offer to break deadlock in talks with Labour 
• It would allow MPs to vote on whether to hold a fresh Brexit referendum 
• Hammond aide Huw Merriman is due to talk at People’s Vote event this afternoon
• MP, who backed May’s Brexit deal but wants a confirmatory vote on it, risks sack
• Ex-Tory leader Hague said talks with Corbyn like ‘a dinner date with a crocodile’ 

Theresa May is considering letting MPs decide whether a second referendum takes place in a bid to revive stalled Brexit talks with Labour.  

Her offer has infuriated MPs already raging over the fact that she is talking to the opposition at all, according to the Daily Telegraph.

The Prime Minister heads to Paris and Berlin for high levels talks with Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel today as senior ministers and their opposition counterparts sit down for talks in London to find a compromise.

Hard left Labour leader Mr Corbyn has called on the Government to be more flexible regarding red line issues in the talks. 

But so far he has resisted strong calls from backbenchers and members of his shadow cabinet to demand a second referendum as the price of his support for the Government.

After officials from the two sides met on Monday, the fresh round of talks will include Chancellor Philip Hammond and his opposite number John McDonnell, plus Mrs May’s de facto deputy, Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington, and shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer.

Senior backbench Tories visited Mrs May in Downing Street on Monday and it is understood concern was expressed about the possibility of agreeing to a customs union as a price for a deal with Labour.

And in Tuesday’s Daily Telegraph, Tory grandee William Hague said the talks were ‘akin to having a dinner date with a crocodile’.

Lord Hague wrote: ‘It is difficult in any case to see how carrying through the programme of Brexit procedures and laws could be sustained by an agreement between part of the Conservative Party and the bulk of the Labour Party – the Government would be highly likely to collapse under such a strain.’

It came as an aide to Chancellor Philip Hammond said he is ready to defy the whips by addressing a People’s Vote campaign rally.

Huw Merriman said it was ‘likely’ his appearance at the event in London on Tuesday would cost him his job as an unpaid parliamentary private secretary.

Theresa May left Downing Street this morning to head to Berlin and then Paris for Brexit talks with  Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron

The MP for Bexhill and Battle – who backs Theresa May’s Brexit deal – said he wanted to use the event to explain why he supported a confirmatory referendum on the agreement in last week’s ‘indicative’ votes in the Commons.

‘It has been made clear to me that is not Government policy. My issue with that is that a week ago we were given free votes and I was allowed to vote for this concept of putting the Prime Minister’s deal back to the people to get it through,’ he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

‘If I then get sacked for actually explaining the way I voted in a free vote, that to me would be a new low in democracy.

‘It would be nonsensical for me to be given a free vote, to be allowed to vote the way I wish to vote, but then to explain it I would lose my position. 

‘That’s politics of the madhouse and I am just not willing to go along with that.’

Philip May looked pensive as he waved off his wife on her European tour as she tries to delay Brexit yet again

The Prime Minister is hoping that her cross-party talks with Labour will convince EU leaders to give her a short extension to Article 50 at a summit in Brussels in Wednesday, before Britain leaves the bloc with No Deal by default on Friday.

However the discussions with Jeremy Corbyn do not appear to be making any progress and EU leaders are growing tired of repeated extension requests.

They are preparing to impose a long delay to Brexit until around March 2020, are fearful that a new Brexiteer Prime Minister, such as Boris Johnson, could cause havoc within the EU during this time.

To counter this threat, the EU will ‘Boris-proof’ any Brexit delay and refuse to let the UK have any say in future EU budget talks and trade deals until Britain leaves, it was revealed today.

An EU diplomat told The Times: ‘If there is a wild Brexiteer as a new Tory PM, they would be able to do nothing until after March 31, 2020, unless they subscribe to the withdrawal agreement. We will simply not hold talks. If a new British leader refuses these terms it will simply be ‘no deal’ on the date with plenty of time for us to prepare.’

With the country headed for a lengthy Brexit delay, senior cabinet member Andrea Leadsom has gone rogue by urging Mrs May to beg Angela Merkel to re-open the Brexit deal and change the Irish backstop – which the PM and the EU has repeatedly said is impossible.

She said: ‘I think would be fantastic is if Angela Merkel will try to support a proper UK Brexit by agreeing to reopen the withdrawal agreement. There have been rumours over the weekend that some senior members of the German government would be willing to do that in order to get Theresa May’s deal over the line’.

Theresa May fired the starting gun on Britain’s participation in the European Parliament elections last night. Government officials formally triggered the elections for May 23 – at an estimated cost to the taxpayer of £108million – while the Tories launched a search for candidates.

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