Rishi Sunak rules out a quick-fix trade deal with India
Multiple sources close to the negotiations have told The Guardian the UK prime minister has rejected the idea of an "early harvest" deal
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has said that she is preparing to present before MPs a “new bold offer” in a last-ditch attempt to get her beleaguered Brexit deal through Parliament in early June.
Extra protection for workers are expected to be among the proposals, with the Prime Minister trying to win over the support of some Labour MPs to get her Brexit plan passed, the BBC reported.
Talks between the opposition Labour Party and the government aimed at breaking the Brexit impasse ended on Friday without an agreement.
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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the discussions had “gone as far as they can”, blaming what he called the government’s “increasing weakness and instability”. May said that the lack of a “common position” within Labour over a further referendum had made talks “difficult”.
She announced this week that MPs will vote on the bill – which would bring the withdrawal agreement into UK law – in the week beginning on June 3. If the bill is not passed, the default position is that the UK will leave the EU on October 31 without a deal.
Labour has said that it will vote against the bill while many Conservative MPs also remain opposed, meaning that the legislation could fail to clear its first parliamentary hurdle.
Writing in the Sunday Times, the Prime Minister said she will “not be simply asking MPs to think again” on the same deal that they have repeatedly rejected – but on “an improved package of measures that I believe can win new support”.
May said she wanted MPs to consider the new deal “with fresh pairs of eyes – and to give it their support”.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said his party would be prepared to support the bill if the government agreed to give the public the final say on the terms of exit in a referendum.
Before the talks with Labour, the Prime Minister — whose Conservative Party does not have a majority in the House of Commons — failed to get her deal through three times, by margins of 230, 149 and 58 votes.
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