The former finance minister of Great Britain and a member of the Conservative Party, Philip Hammond, spoke with Kier Starmer from the Labor Party to agree on joint moves by the two parties with the aim of preventing the new Prime Minister Boris Johnson from taking the country out of the EU (Brexit) without an agreement, writes the Guardian.
The conversation took place on Wednesday, shortly before Johnson officially became prime minister.
Hammond resigned as minister when Johnson became prime minister.
The Guardian writes that the meeting between Hammond and Starmer is evidence that MPs from both British political parties are wary of Johnson's plan to take the UK out of the EU without a deal on October 31.
Former political adversaries Hammond and Starmer are understood to be working together over the summer alongside other MPs opposed to leaving the EU without a deal, including former Tory ministers Oliver Letwin and Dominic Grieve, to find a solution to how best to use votes in parliament to "they are torpedoing the exit from the EU without an agreement", according to the British newspaper.
Starmer confirmed on Saturday night that Johnson's arrival as prime minister had prompted cross-party talks at the highest level, including Conservatives sacked by Johnson or those who resigned because they did not agree to leaving the EU without a deal.
The Guardian calls this a bipartisan counter-offensive against Johnson's "hard Brexit cabinet and government".
"The political direction under Boris Johnson is clear and that is why it is more important than ever that we build a strong cross-party alliance to prevent a no-deal Brexit. That work will intensify over the summer before parliament resumes in September," Starmer said.
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