But the Prime Minster's latest proposals appear to contain no strengthening of her offer on post-Brexit environmental protections
Theresa May has once again pledged to guarantee UK environmental protections are maintained outside the EU as she today made a "new offer to find common ground in Parliament" for her Brexit deal.
MPs are set to vote for the final time next month on the Prime Minister's Withdrawal Bill, which she today presented alongside a 10-point offer to Parliament in a bid to convince MPs to back the legislation.
Her new offer includes the idea of a temporary customs union until the next general election, the introduction of a new Workers Rights Bill, and a promise that MPs will get a vote on whether to hold another referendum if they back her EU Withdrawal Bill in Parliament next month.
And, the new Brexit deal "will also place a legal duty on the government to seek as close to frictionless trade in goods with the EU as possible, subject to being outside the single market and ending freedom of movement" she said, adding that this would mean maintaining common rules with the EU for trade in goods and agrifoods products.
But although May reiterated her pledge to maintain green protections outside the EU and set up a new independent green watchdog, she made no new commitments with regards to the environment.
"The new Brexit deal will also guarantee there will be no change in the level of environmental protection when we leave the EU, and we will establish a new independent office of environmental protection to uphold the environmental standards and enforce compliance," May said.
The government is expected to publish the proposed changes to the EU Withdrawal Bill and Political Declaration in the coming days, ahead of plans to hold a vote in her last-ditch attempt to get the legislation through Parliament in early June.
Presenting what she called a "10-point offer to everyone in Parliament" in order to secure support for her negotiated Brexit, she promised to guarantee MPs a vote on a possible second referendum, which she said would happen before the Withdrawal Agreement could be ratified.
Green groups - which have repeatedly voiced concerns over the level of post-Brexit protections offered by the government on the environment - were quick to criticise May's latest attempts to secure support for her Brexit deal.
Amy Mount, who heads up the Greener UK coalition, said the Prime Minister's speech "was so wide of the mark" and failed to take the issue of environmental protection seriously enough, particularly given the huge spike in public concern over the issue in recent weeks.
PM's #Brexit speech today was so wide of the mark. How does "no change in the level of environmental protection" in any way match up to parliament declaring an environment & climate emergency? Compare to commitment workers' rights will be as good as or better than those in EU
— Amy Mount (@ASmallAMount) May 21, 2019
Both the Withdrawal Agreement and the accompanying political declaration currently contain pledges to ensure environmental standards are maintained in the UK. In addition, prior to the original delay to the UK's Brexit date government ministers indicated that Parliament could be given the chance to consider whether to match future changes to EU green rules.
But Dustin Benton, policy director at Green Alliance, went further in his criticism of May's speech today, suggesting her comments on green commitments were "much worse than ensuring the UK doesn't fall behind the EU".
PM's speech seems to say she will allow the UK to fall behind the EU in terms of environmental protection - "no change in the level of environmental protection." Much worse than ensuring the UK doesn't fall behind the EU.
— Dustin Benton (@dustin_benton) May 21, 2019
And given that a future government's hands would not be bound by the political declaration, fears remain that should a hard Brexiteer replace May as Prime Minister existing environmental protections could still be unwound.
MPs have to date rejected the government's Withdrawal Bill three times, and talks with the Labour Party aimed at finding a compromise on the deal in order to break the Parliamentary impasse broke down last week.
May's latest offer is therefore seen as her last chance to get her Brexit deal over the line before she steps down as Prime Minister. She today warned MPs a negotiated exit would be "dead in the water" and that Brexit could be stopped unless Parliament backed her proposals.