Politics update: May says she will meet with Corbyn to reach Brexit pact

Politics update 03.04.2019

May says she will meet with Corbyn to find Brexit compromise

Jeremy Corbyn

Theresa May has offered to hold talks with Jeremy Corbyn to break the Brexit deadlock and reach a compromise to reach a new Brexit proposal.

After MPs voted against all Brexit alternatives, leaving only her own deal which has already been rejected three times, May said on Tuesday that she is open to discussing a way forward with the Labour leader.

If May and Corbyn can reach a compromise, the new proposals will be brought forward to the European Union – most likely at next week’s European council summit.

May said on Tuesday that it would be a “decisive moment in the story of these islands and that requires national unity to deliver the national interest”.

Corbyn accepts May’s offer to hold talks

Jeremy Corbyn has said he is “very happy” to meet Theresa May in order to try and break the Brexit logjam.

Any pact made between the two will likely mean the prime minister compromising on one of her red lines, however Corbyn said that he did “recognise that she has made a move” in reaching out for talks.

In a response on Tuesday, Corbyn said: “We recognise that she has made a move, I recognise my responsibility to represent the people that supported Labour in the last election and the people who didn’t support Labour but nevertheless want certainty and security for their own future and that’s the basis on which we will meet her and we will have those discussions.”

Nick Boles: May’s cabinet are “cowardly” and “selfish”

Nick Boles MP
Nick Boles MP

Former Conservative MP Nick Boles has lashed out at Theresa May’s cabinet, calling them “cowardly” and “selfish” over their handling of Brexit.

Boles, who quit the party this week after MPs failed to back his proposed “common market 2.0” alternative Brexit motion, said that May’s cabinet was the ‘worst in recorded history’.

Speaking to the BBC on Tuesday, Boles said: “There are some fine people in the cabinet, genuinely, people who would have been in a cabinet in any age, but this is the worst cabinet collectively not only in my lifetime but I think probably in recorded history.”

Boles added that anybody who replaces Theresa May “should not be anyone who is or has been in the cabinet” since 2017.

Green groups say new council funding for air pollution ‘won’t touch the sides’

Green groups have said that a new round of funding from the government aimed at helping local authorities to tackle air pollution is inadequate, given the scale of the risk faced.

Recent figures estimate that 40,000 deaths in the UK each year are linked to gases and particulates being spewed into the air.

Speaking this week, Areeba Hamid, clean air campaigner at Greenpeace UK said: “Air pollution is a national crisis, so throwing as little as £3m at the problem is about as effective as chucking your small change into a wishing well in the hope a solution will appear.”

“£3m simply won’t touch the sides of the issue”, she added.

Speaking in defence of the government, environment minister Therese Coffey said: “Today’s funding demonstrates the government’s commitment to supporting the local momentum needed to continue to improve our air now and for future generations.”

“Local authorities are best placed to introduce systems that work best for their areas, which is why we are working closely with them to ensure they have the appropriate funding and support”, she added.

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