Talks between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn to break the Brexit deadlock have been called "constructive".
The two leaders met on Wednesday afternoon and agreed a "programme of work" to try to find a way forward to put to MPs for a vote.
It is understood that each party has appointed a negotiating team, which will meet later tonight ahead of a full day of discussions on Thursday.
A spokesman for No 10 said both sides were "showing flexibility".
And he added that the two parties gave "a commitment to bring the current Brexit uncertainty to a close".
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Corbyn said there had not been "as much change as [he] had expected" in the PM's position.
He said the meeting was "useful, but inconclusive", and talks would continue.
The UK has until 12 April to propose a plan to the EU - which must be accepted by the bloc - or it will leave without a deal on that date.
The PM proposed the talks in a statement on Tuesday night and wants to agree a way forward with the Labour leader for the Commons to vote on before 10 April - when the EU will hold an emergency summit on Brexit.
If there is no agreement between the two leaders, Mrs May said a number of options would be put to MPs "to determine which course to pursue".
In either event, Mrs May said she would ask the EU for a further short extension to hopefully get an agreement passed by Parliament before 22 May, so the UK does not have to take part in European elections.
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The two leaders also met Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
The SNP leader said she had "good" and "open" conversations with both, and while she believed Mr Corbyn would "drive a hard bargain", she was "still not entirely clear" where the prime minister was willing to compromise.
The SNP leader, who backs a further referendum and wants to remain in the EU, told reporters: "My concern is that in the rush to reach some compromise with the clock ticking, what will happen over the next few days... is a bad compromise will be reached."
The SNP, Liberal Democrats, Green Party, Plaid Cymru and the Independent Group have also held a joint press conference, calling for any decision made by the leaders to be put to a public vote.
But some Tory Brexiteers have condemned the talks, with two ministers resigning over the issue.
Chris Heaton-Harris quit on Wednesday afternoon, claiming his job at the Department for Exiting the European Union had become "irrelevant" if the government is not prepared to leave without a deal.
Wales Minister Nigel Adams also resigned earlier, saying the government was at risk of failing to deliver "the Brexit people voted for".
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By Patrick Smith
LONDON — Almost three years after Britain narrowly voted to leave the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May appears to have played her final card as the clock ticks to a deadline that's just nine days away.
May has so far failed at every hurdle to make Brexit happen on her terms.
Her withdrawal agreement, which took two years to negotiate and was backed by all 27 other E.U. countries, has been rejected by British lawmakers three times. And there is nothing to suggest her deal would win enough support now.
A bill making its way through the House of Commons on Wednesday would force the government to ask the E.U. to delay the divorce, which was originally due to happen last Friday. It was moved to April 12 due to the political deadlock. If the bill passes, it could extend the process by up to 12 months.
The stakes could not be higher. So how does the U.K. get out of this mess? Here's a guide to how we got here and what might happen next.
What did May say?
Addressing the nation after Tuesday's marathon meeting, May said: “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.”
Seeking to "break the log jam," she offered to meet with Corbyn 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.”
While some lawmakers within her Conservative Party are pushing for a clean break with the E.U., agreeing to sit down with Corbyn suggests May is willing to compromise and consider a "softer" Brexit to finally reach an end to the process.
May was so keen to speak publicly about her proposal before any disgruntled ministers could leak everything to the press, multiple reports assert that she told her Cabinet to stay in her 10 Downing Street residence and offices while making her statement. As is typical for these meetings, their phones had been confiscated.
What does this mean?
May had been pushing for a relatively hard Brexit, which would mean an arm’s-length relationship with the E.U. and ending the U.K.’s membership of the single market and customs union, which allow E.U. states to freely trade among each other at no cost and with virtually no border checks or red tape. It would also eliminate the freedom of all E.U. citizens to travel, live and work across the bloc.
These were May’s so-called red lines, things she wouldn’t back down on. She has spent months saying lawmakers are faced with her deal, no deal, or no Brexit whatsoever. But now, finally, a compromise looks more likely.
All this has gone down badly with Conservative Brexiteers. Two of May's ministers resigned Wednesday.
Feb. 7, 201909:58
Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan-Smith wrote an article for the Daily Telegraph with the headline “The PM’s capitulation to Jeremy Corbyn makes me fear for my country.”
Opponents of Brexit, who would prefer a second referendum, believe May's gambit is just another way for the prime minister to get her deal passed.
I thought momentarily last night May’s “offer” might be genuine. Having heard Barclay on @BBCr4today it is clearly a trap designed to try to get May’s terrible deal through, which some people have fallen for, but Labour mustn’t. Nothing has changed. #BrexitShambles#PeoplesVote
The trap: Any “concessions” are temporary & not legally binding. They will be attached to the political declaration. It will be immediately torn up by the incoming Tory leader. The only possible response from Labour: a public vote on what emerges as the price of our support.
While Labour also promised voters at the last general election in 2017 that it would make Brexit happen, it has been pushing for the U.K. to remain in a customs union in order to safeguard jobs that rely on E.U. trade and to mitigate the economic impactof leaving the world’s largest trading bloc.
How much common ground is there between May and Corbyn?
Oddly, their views on Brexit are in many ways quite similar. It’s just their parties that don’t agree with them.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday, May said: “I think there are a number of areas where we agree on Brexit, we both want to deliver leaving the E.U. with a deal, we both want to protect jobs, we both want to end free movement, we both recognize the importance of the withdrawal agreement.”
But Labour’s demands were unclear as of Wednesday afternoon.
Could May and Corbyn go back to the E.U. with a new proposal?
Not quite. The E.U. has been very clear that the withdrawal agreement it negotiated with the U.K. in November is the only deal on the table.
The only thing that could change is the political declaration that goes along with this, which governs the future U.K.-E.U. relationship and isn’t strictly legally binding.
This is all made complicated by the nature of the E.U., which can only make big decisions unanimously as a bloc of 27 nations. Each nation has a veto and can block anything it doesn’t like.
What are the chances of a second referendum?
The 2016 referendum simply asked voters whether they wanted to leave or remain in the E.U.
Some believe it’s now necessary to put all the various options — including May’s withdrawal agreement, a "no-deal" Brexit and perhaps even remaining in the E.U. — to the people.
Both the Conservatives and Labour promised before the 2017 general election to leave the E.U. and respect the results of the Brexit referendum.
However, a "People’s Vote" is an increasingly popular policy among Labour lawmakers and grassroots members. At its policy-making annual conference last year, Labour agreed to explore the possibility of a second referendum if Parliament couldn’t pass an acceptable Brexit deal on its own.
Despite internal pressure, it’s unclear whether Labour would demand that May agrees to a second referendum.
However, Labour lawmaker and Corbyn ally Rebecca Long-Bailey told Sky News Wednesday that “if we get exactly what we want, I would struggle to find a reason to put that to a public vote.”
Even if a referendum is agreed, a monumental battle would then begin over what options to put on the ballot paper. If remaining in the E.U. is an option, Brexiteers would declare the process undemocratic.
And all this leaves open the possibility that Corbyn could agree a withdrawal deal with May and end up campaigning to leave the E.U. on those terms and against the majority of Labour lawmakers and the party's grassroots members.
Pressure on Corbyn to demand second referendum as price of Brexit deal with May. But if he did cut a deal, Labour would surely have to campaign for it in any referendum - and against Remain
Professor Tim Bale, from Queen Mary University in London, told NBC News that lack of party loyalty in Parliament that had emerged due to Brexit was unprecedented.
“Party discipline appears to have completely broken down," he said. “If some sort of deal was to be agreed and as part of that we were to see a second referendum then Labour’s stance would be quite questionable. Having agreed it would they then have to support it? Or would it mean they are able to say it was the best they could come up with and they still don’t agree with it."
Bale added: “There would have to be almost a free-for-all in that referendum so anyone in any party would be allowed to campaign for either side.”
It would be hard for Corbyn to back a Leave campaign having backed Remain in 2016, according to Bale, despite accusations that the Labour leader's support was lackluster.
What if May and Corbyn can’t agree anything?
Crucially, May also said in her statement on Tuesday that if the two party leaders can’t agree a way forward she would accept any deal that the Parliament approves next week, a sign of how weak she is.
But after voting on a number of options, lawmakers in the House of Commons have also been unable to find a solution.
Will this go on forever?
Mercifully, no.
The E.U. has said it would grant another extension to the Brexit process beyond April 12 if there’s a good reason for it — such as the Parliament finally agreeing to a deal. However, both May and the E.U have said the process must not extend beyond May 22, the day before European Parliament elections.
March 14, 201901:51
May is desperate to avoid the bizarre spectacle of the U.K. holding such elections three years after voting to leave the E.U.
What is 'no-deal' Brexit?
If the U.K. does nothing and doesn’t get another extension from Brussels to finalize a deal, it will exit the E.U. with no deal on April 12.
Overnight, the country would lose more than 40 years of trade agreements, laws and regulations as well as automatic trading access to E.U. nations, which account for more than half of national trade.
The U.K. would default to World Trade Organisation rules, which would mean imposing big charges or tariffs on imports. On day one under this scenario, the U.K. would charge 10 percent to car importers and as much as 35 percent for dairy products, for example.
British people would also immediately lose the right to move freely across the bloc.
The government has spent more than £4.2 billion ($5.5 billion) in preparing the country for this scenario, with the state-run National Health Service investing in a large number of fridges to stockpile medicines and even extra body bags.
Some believe this to be the best course of action for the country as it would allow the government to sign bilateral trade deals with any country in the world. E.U. members cannot do this.
Bale, the professor, pointed out that Brexit could potentially only be delayed by a matter of weeks.
“If she can’t cobble something together with Jeremy Corbyn that would get through the House of Commons, we’d still be left with the situation where no deal is possible on or around May 22,” he said.
Patrick Smith
Patrick Smith is a digital news editor for nbcnews.com based in London.
An American citizen and her local guide have been abducted during a game ride in a prominent tourist park in Uganda, a U.S federal official confirmed to Fox News on Wednesday.
The incident is believed to have happened between 6 and 7 pm Tuesday near a wilderness camp in Queen Elizabeth National Park, where two armed men held four tourists at gunpoint. Two were rescued and alerted authorities.
However, the mobile phone of the American woman, who has been identified as Kimberley Sue Endecott, 35, was used to make a ransom demand of $500,000, according to Ugandan police. It is unclear where she is being held.
“The police dispatched an elite squad from the Tourism Police to reinforce security teams and actively pursue a group of 4 unknown gunmen,” the Deputy Police Spokesperson Polly Namaye said in a statement, noting that they believe the victims are likely still in the area. “We want to further reassure the public that this is the first incident of this kind registered in such a very peaceful setting.”
The U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that they are currently in the process of trying to gather all the details of the alleged ransom demand.
The exit between the park and the Democratic Republic of Congo has since been closed. It is not yet known which group or individuals are behind the kidnapping.
An American citizen and her local guide have been abducted during a game ride in a prominent tourist park in Uganda, a U.S federal official confirmed to Fox News on Wednesday.
The incident is believed to have happened between 6 and 7 pm Tuesday near a wilderness camp in Queen Elizabeth National Park, where two armed men held four tourists at gunpoint. Two were rescued and alerted authorities.
However, the mobile phone of the American woman, who has been identified as Kimberley Sue Endecott, 35, was used to make a ransom demand of $500,000, according to Ugandan police. It is unclear where she is being held.
“The police dispatched an elite squad from the Tourism Police to reinforce security teams and actively pursue a group of 4 unknown gunmen,” the Deputy Police Spokesperson Polly Namaye said in a statement, noting that they believe the victims are likely still in the area. “We want to further reassure the public that this is the first incident of this kind registered in such a very peaceful setting.”
The U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that they are currently in the process of trying to gather all the details of the alleged ransom demand.
The exit between the park and the Democratic Republic of Congo has since been closed. It is not yet known which group or individuals are behind the kidnapping.
KAMPALA, April 3 (Reuters) - An American woman and her Ugandan driver have been kidnapped from Queen Elizabeth National Park in southwest Uganda by gunmen demanding a ransom of $500,000, police said on Wednesday.
Kimberley Sue Endecott, 35, and Ugandan driver Jean Paul were on a game drive when their vehicle was ambushed by four gunmen on Tuesday evening, a police statement said.
An elderly couple who were also at the scene were not taken, and they raised the alarm, the police said.
RELATED: High-profile kidnapping cases
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High-profile kidnapping cases through the years
See Gallery
Elizabeth Smart
Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her bedroom in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2002 when she was 14. She was found nine months later after she was recognized while out in public with her captors. Brian David Mitchell was convicted of kidnapping and raping Smart and was sentenced to life in prison in 2011. Mitchell's estranged wife, Wanda Barzee, admitted to her role in the kidnapping and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
(Photo by Douglas C. Pizac-Pool/Getty Images) (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Jaycee Lee Dugard
Phillip and Nancy Garrido abducted Jaycee Lee Dugard in 1991 near Lake Tahoe when she was 11 and held her captive for 18 years. Dugard was forced to live in tents and sheds behind Garrido's home in California. She was found in 2009 after Garrido brought her to his parole meeting and investigators became suspicious. Phillip Garrido reportedly raped her for years and fathered two children with her. Phillip was sentenced to 431 years to life in prison and his wife was sentenced to 36 years to life.
Nancy Garrido (Photo by El Dorado County Sheriff via Getty Images) Jaycee Lee Dugard (Photo by Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Phillip Garrido (Photo by El Dorado County Sheriff via Getty Images)
Charles Lindbergh, Jr.
Charles Lindbergh Jr., the son of the American aviator, was kidnapped from his home in March 1932. A ladder was used to climb up to the baby's bedroom and a ransom note was left behind. The infant's body was later discovered near the Lindbergh's mansion in New Jersey. Bruno Richard Hauptmann was convicted of murder and was later executed by electric chair.
Charles Lindbergh Jr. (Photo by BIPS/Getty Images)
Bruno Richard Hauptmann (Bettmann via Getty Images)
Caylee Anthony
3-year-old Caylee Anthony was last seen alive on June 16, 2008. She wasn't reported missing until a month later when her mother, Casey Anthony, told investigators that a babysitter kidnapped her. The young girl's remains were found in a wooded-area in December 2008. Casey Anthony stood trial for her daughter's murder but was acquitted.
Caylee Anthony (Photo by Orlando Sentinel/Orlando Sentinel/MCT via Getty Images)
Casey Anthony (Photo by Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/MCT via Getty Images)
Natascha Kampusch
Natascha Kampusch vanished when she was 10-years-old in 1998 while walking to school. The woman broke free on August 23, 2006, after living for eight years in a small basement area under a garage next to the suspected kidnappers house in Strasshof, 15 miles outside of the capital Vienna. The suspect, Wolfgang Priklopil committed suicide after Kampusch managed to escape.
(REUTERS/HO/Police)
Carlina White
Carlina White, seen here as a baby and adult, was kidnapped from Harlem Hospital in 1987. As she grew up she began to question if the woman who was raising her was actually her mother. After doing some research she discovered a picture of herself when she was an infant on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website and was eventually reunited with her family 23 years later. The woman who abducted her, Ann Pettway, was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
(Photo by NY Daily News via Getty Images)
Relisha Rudd
8-year-old Relisha Rudd disappeared on March 1, 2014. She was last seen spending time with the janitor of the homeless shelter where she stayed with her mother. That man, Kahlil Tatum later killed himself but Relisha has never been found.
(Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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The identity of the kidnappers was unclear. The Somali Islamist militant group al Shabaab has carried out attacks in Uganda in the past, but has never kidnapped anyone for ransom there.
The park, Uganda's most visited, is located about 400 km (250 miles) southwest of the capital Kampala, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), home to many fragmented rebel groups.
Police said initial indications were that the kidnapping was financially motivated, since the group had quickly made a demand using Endecott's cellphone.
"We strongly believe this ransom is the reason behind this kidnap," they said. "The Joint Security teams have cut off all exit areas on the border between Uganda and the DRC in search of the victims."
The police believe the group may still be in the park, their statement said.
The U.S. embassy in Kampala said it would be issuing a statement later.
In 1999, an American couple, four Britons and two New Zealanders were killed along with four Ugandan guides when their group was ambushed by gunmen in Uganda's Bwidi Impenetrable Forest. Survivors said the killers appeared to be Hutu rebels based in Congo.
Bwidi Forest begins about 20 km (12 miles) south of Queen Elizabeth National Park. (Writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
The American citizen -- a woman -- and a Ugandan driver were kidnapped at gunpoint at Queen Elizabeth National Park in southwest Uganda, while on a game drive on Tuesday evening, a statement released by the agencies said.
"The kidnappers, using the victim's phone have demanded 500,000 USD," police said, adding "we strongly believe this ransom is the reason behind the kidnap."
Police have dispatched an "elite squad" from the Tourism Police to the park to actively pursue the gunmen and have closed all exit areas on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"We strongly believe the perpetrators and victims could still be trapped within our search area," the police statement added.
The American citizen was abducted alongside four people but the unnamed four were freed while the American and her driver were taken from the park, Ofwondo Opondo, the head of Ugandan Media Centre said in a statement.
"The priority at this point is to locate them, rescue and bring them back to safety," Opondo said.
Uganda recorded a spate of kidnapping incidents last year, which prompted street protests amid claims the government was not doing enough to address the security issues.
Rights groups who led the protests to the country's parliament in Kampala city, said more than 20 people, mostly women, and children, were abducted for ransom last year and called on the police to make these cases a priority.
Ugandan police also established an emergency center at the time where families of victims could report cases in response to the increase in kidnap cases.
Journalist Samson Ntale contributed to this story.
