The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Brexit deal just ‘half-inch’ away
● Tory minister says parties near agreement
The Conservatives and Labour are just “half an inch apart” on the terms of a Brexit deal, a Cabinet minister has claimed.
International Development Secretary Rory Stewart said that, despite the collapse of cross-party talks aimed at finding an agreed way forward, there was little that divided the two sides.
He suggested that, even if the Labour leadership was not prepared to support Theresa May’s deal
when she brings it back to the Commons next month, other “moderate, sensible” Labour MPs may do so.
The Prime Minister has said she is preparing to make a “bold offer” to MPs in a final attempt to get her beleaguered deal through Parliament and onto the statute book before she leaves office.
However, Jeremy Corbyn said he had heard nothing yet from the Government that would persuade him that Labour should now fall in behind her Withdrawal Agreement with Brussels.
The Labour leader told BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show: “We haven’t seen whatever the new Bill is going to be yet but nothing I’ve heard leads me to believe it’s fundamentally any different to the previous Bill that’s been put forward.
“So as of now we’re supporting it.”
Ministers will begin discussions on Monday on a package of measures to be included in the forthcoming Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) aimed at securing crossparty support.
The weekly meeting of the Cabinet on Tuesday will then consider plans not for a series of “indicative votes” in the Commons to establish which proposals could command a majority in the House.
Mr Stewart said that ministers now needed to reach out to Labour MPs who might be prepared to vote for the Bill.
“The Labour and Conservative positions are about half an inch apart,” he told BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show.
“We’re in the territory of a deal, and if we are in the territory of a deal, where we need to focus is Parliament, and particularly getting Labour votes across.