Theresa May's speech in full as PM says she will ask EU for further Brexit extension

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Theresa May has said she will ask for a further extension to Brexit to "break the logjam" in Parliament over leaving the European Union.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Prime Minister also said she wants to meet with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to agree a plan on the future relationship with the EU.

This plan would be put to the House of Commons ahead of the April 10 summit of the European Council, Mrs May said.

Here is the Prime Minister's speech in full.

"I've just come from chairing seven hours of Cabinet meetings focused on finding a route out of the current impasse, one that will deliver the Brexit the British people voted for and allow us to move on and begin bringing our divided country back together.

"I know there are some who are so fed up with delay and endless arguments that they would like to leave with no deal next week, I've always been clear that we could make a success of no deal in the long term.

"But leaving with a deal is the best solution. So we will need a further extension of Article 50, one that is as short as possible and which ends when we pass a deal.

"And we need to be clear what such an extension is for, to ensure we leave in a timely and orderly way.

"This debate, this division, cannot drag on much longer.

"It is putting members of Parliament and everyone else under immense pressure and it is doing damage to our politics.

"Despite the best efforts of MPs, the process that the House of Commons has tried to lead has not come up with an answer.

"So today I'm taking action to break the log jam.

"I'm offering to sit down with the Leader of the Opposition and to try to agree a plan that we would both stick to, to ensure that we leave the European Union and that we do so with a deal.

"Any plan would have to agree the current Withdrawal Agreement.

"It has already been negotiated with the 27 other members and the EU has repeatedly said that it cannot and will not be reopened.

"What we need to focus on is our future relationship with the EU.

"The ideal outcome of this process would be to agree an approach on a future relationship that delivers on the result of the referendum, that both the Leader of the Opposition and I could put to the House for approval and which I could then take to next week's European Council.

"However, if we cannot agree on the single unified approach then we would instead agree a number of options for the future relationship that we could put to the House in a series of votes to determine which course to pursue.

"Crucially, the Government stands ready to abide by the decision of the House, but to make this process work, the Opposition would need to agree to this too.

"The Government would then bring forward the Withdrawal Agreement bill.

"We would want to agree a timetable for this Bill to ensure it is passed before the 22nd of May so that the United Kingdom need not take part in the European parliamentary elections.

"This is a difficult time for everyone. Passions are running high on all sides of the argument, but we can and must find the compromises that will deliver what the British people voted for.

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

It came amid calls for compromise to prevent a potentially devastating no-deal exit in just 10 days.

A cross-party group of MPs launched a bid to force Mrs May to stop a no-deal Brexit by tabling a bill requiring the Prime Minister to extend the negotiation process beyond April 12.

It followed the failure of MPs to unite behind an alternative to Mrs May's plan on Monday.

Number 10 made clear on Tuesday that leaving the EU without an agreement in 10 days time remains the legal default unless MPs approve a deal.

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