Brexit news latest: Theresa May's plans thrown into chaos as Labour accuses government of refusing to compromise

Labour has delivered a blow to Theresa May as it said the government has not been willing to compromise in its Brexit talks.

Government ministers and top Labour officials have been in talks for three days in an attempt by Mrs May to break the Brexit "logjam". But the opposition party said on Friday evening that no progress had been made.

A party spokesman said: “We are disappointed that the government has not offered real change or compromise.

“We urge the Prime Minister to come forward with genuine changes to her deal in an effort to find an alternative that can win support in Parliament and bring the country together.”

But Downing Street immediately hit back. It said the government has "made serious proposals in talks this week" and that it is "prepared to pursue changes" to the political declaration, which sets out the framework for the future UK-EU relationship.

Labour's shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer, a key player in the talks, had earlier suggested this was not the case, claiming the government was "not countenancing any changes" to the wording of the political declaration.

He said: "So far, the government isn't proposing any changes to the deal. In particular it's not countenancing any changes to the actual wording of the political declaration.

"Now obviously that's disappointing; compromise requires change. We want the talks to continue and we've written in those terms to the government, but we do need change if we're going to compromise."

It came as Mrs May faced resistance over her request to the European Union for Brexit to be potentially delayed until June 30, with Brussels expected to insist on a longer extension.

She wrote to European Council president Donald Tusk requesting the delay on Friday, with an option to leave earlier if she can get a Brexit deal through Parliament.

Mrs May said she will seek to secure ratification of the deal before European elections on May 23, but will make "responsible preparations" for the UK to take part in the polls if that does not prove possible.

The request will be considered at an emergency EU summit on April 10, where it requires the unanimous agreement of the leaders of the remaining 27 member states.

EU sources said Mr Tusk is recommending a longer postponement of one year, with a break clause in the case of earlier ratification, in a so-called "flextension" deal.