The lower house of Britain's parliament approved legislation which would force Prime Minister Theresa May to seek a delay to Brexit in order to prevent the risk of leaving without a deal on April 12.
Lawmakers rushed the legislation through all of its stages in the House of Commons on Wednesday, with the final stage passed by 313 to 312. It will now move to the upper chamber, the House of Lords.
Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says Prime Minister Theresa May has not moved far enough in crisis talks aimed at breaking the deadlock over Britain's exit from the European Union.
After her EU withdrawal deal was rejected three times by MPs, Ms May invited Mr Corbyn, a veteran socialist, to talks in parliament to try to plot a way out of the crisis.
"There hasn't been as much change as I expected," Mr Corbyn, 69, said on Wednesday. "The meeting was useful but inconclusive."
Theresa May. Source: AAP
Asked if Ms May had accepted his preference for a post-Brexit customs union with the EU, he said: "We did have a discussion about all of that."
Mr Corbyn is under pressure from some in his party not to agree a Brexit deal without ensuring that it can be confirmed or rejected in a new referendum that also offers the option to stay in the EU.
"I said: 'Look, this is a policy of our party that we would want to pursue the option of a public vote to prevent crashing out or prevent leaving on a bad deal,'" he said.
A Downing Street spokesman said the meeting, which lasted an hour and 40 minutes, had been "constructive, with both sides showing flexibility and a commitment to bring the current Brexit uncertainty to a close.
"We have agreed a program of work to ensure we deliver for the British people, protecting jobs and security," he added.
To try to break the deadlock in parliament, May turned to Labour, led by Corbyn. Source: AAP
A Downing Street spokesman said the meeting, which lasted an hour and 40 minutes, had been "constructive, with both sides showing flexibility and a commitment to bring the current Brexit uncertainty to a close.
"We have agreed a program of work to ensure we deliver for the British people, protecting jobs and security," he added.
Ms May's overture to Corbyn, whose party has 245 out of 650 MPs, offers a possible way for her to secure a majority for an exit deal as she seeks a second short delay to Brexit.
But some in the Labour Party have cast her gambit as a trap aimed at scaring her own MPs into backing her thrice-defeated deal, or as a way to extend responsibility for the difficulties of Brexit to the Labour Party.
Ms May's last-ditch approach to Corbyn provoked anger in her febrile party. Two junior ministers quit on Wednesday, one of them from the Brexit department.
"It now seems that 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'," Nigel Adams said as he resigned as a minister for Wales.
Ms May turned to Labour after a hardcore eurosceptic group of her own Conservatives repeatedly rejected her divorce deal, saying it would leave Britain a 'vassal state'.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said he believed EU leaders were open to further delay and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would "fight until the last minute" for an orderly British exit.
