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LONDON. – Technical talks between officials from the government and Labour Party on finding a compromise on a Brexit deal will resume later on Monday, a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said.

In a statement, the spokesman said: “We have been in touch with the opposition today and technical talks between officials will take place this evening.”

A Labour spokesman confirmed the talks would take place.

Meanwhile, Jaguar Land Rover has begun its week-long factory shutdown as part of its plans for Brexit, on the day the company posted lower sales in Europe and China.

JLR’s four main UK manufacturing sites – at Castle Bromwich, Solihull and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, and Halewood in Merseyside – which employ 18,500 people, are closed from Monday until Friday.

The production shutdown at Britain’s biggest carmaker is in addition to its usual Easter closure, which runs from next week until 23 April. The extension was agreed with staff in January to prepare for potential Brexit disruption, when the UK’s scheduled departure date from the EU was 29 March.

Theresa May is locked in talks with Labour to come up with a plan she can take to an emergency European council summit on Wednesday, at which EU members will decide whether to grant the UK a further extension. Otherwise, the country will crash out of the EU without a deal on Friday.

Workers at JLR’s UK factories will be paid during the production shutdowns but will have to make up the hours at a later date. The company has also started cutting 4,500 jobs from its 40,000 global workforce, affecting mainly management roles in the UK.

Mick Graham, Unite’s plant convenor at Solihull, said: “We had to make some plans to protect the business as best we could and we started talking about this in January. – Reuters/The Guardian, UK