May to make MPs a final 'bold offer' on Brexit deal

British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday she was preparing to make a "bold offer" to MPs in one final attempt to get them to back her Brexit deal, Agence France-Presse reported.

After failing three times to get parliament's approval for her Brexit deal, the government will now put the bill, legislation which will enact that deal, before parliament for a vote in early June, according to Reuters.

"Whatever the outcome of any (indicative) votes, I will not be simply asking MPs (lawmakers) to think again. Instead, I will ask them to look at a new and improved deal with a fresh pair of eyes - and to give it their support," May wrote in The Sunday Times newspaper.

The bill is needed to ratify the divorce agreement struck with the European Union.

On Thursday, May agreed to set out a timetable for her departure following the vote in the week beginning June 3, regardless of whether MPs back her deal at the fourth request.

It is thought that she will trigger a contest for the leadership of her governing Conservative Party once the bill either falls or completes all of its stages through parliament.

"When the Withdrawal Agreement Bill comes before MPs, it will represent a new, bold offer to MPs across the House of Commons, with an improved package of measures that I believe can win new support," she wrote in the newspaper.

The bill is expected to include new measures on protecting workers' rights, future customs arrangements with the EU, and on the use of technology to avoid the need for border controls between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, an EU member state and the UK's only land neighbor.

It will not, however, seek to reopen the withdrawal agreement, which Brussels repeatedly has insisted could not be renegotiated, despite many MPs voting it down due to concerns about its so-called "backstop" clauses on Northern Ireland.

May is expected to set out the details of her proposals in a speech later this month.

Her gambit on Sunday comes ahead of the European Parliament elections, to be held in Britain on Thursday.

The opinion polls make dire reading for the Conservatives, with the newly-formed Brexit Party forecast to win the most seats, ratcheting up the pressure on May.

The latest survey out on Sunday put euroskeptic figurehead Nigel Farage's single-issue party way ahead at 34 percent, with the main opposition Labour Party at 20 percent, the pro-EU Liberal Democrats at 15 percent and the Conservatives at 11 percent.

Furthermore, the poll said the Brexit Party had overtaken the Conservatives in general election voting intentions too, with Labour leading with 29 percent, Farage's party with 24 percent and the Conservatives with 22 percent.

Opinium Research conducted the online survey of 2,004 British adults between Tuesday and Thursday for The Observer newspaper.

(China Daily 05/20/2019 page11)