MPs’ plan to stop no-deal Brexit is on-going, Tory rebel says

Cross-party talks between opponents of a no-deal Brexit have been going on 'for months and months' and will continue until the October 31st deadline, a former minister has said.

Tory former minister Sir Oliver Letwin told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there are "all sorts of talks going on" as the UK prepares for the possibility of a no-deal Brexit.

Asked whether he had been having talks with shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer, Sir Oliver said talks have been going on with many people.

He told the Today programme: "There are all sorts of talks going on between everybody and everybody else, and there will continue to be between now and October."

He added: "It is certainly true we have been talking to one another for months and months."

Sir Oliver also said Theresa May's government did not do enough to prepare for a no-deal Brexit.

He said: "I think there should have been considerably more preparation even stretching back a couple of years.

"But we are where we are and although, as you've just said, I don't think it's very sensible for this country to be heading towards a no-deal, we have to accept this government intends, if it can't get the deal it likes, to take us out without a deal.

"So we may very well find ourselves leaving without a deal, and in that context it makes abundant sense to do everything that can be done in the next three months to prepare the country to minimise the impact of it."