May reaches out to rival parties in bid to implement Brexit

A month after she lost her parliamentary majority in the snap polls, May is seen admitting to her weakened position and will also say that she was still committed to "bold action" to fulfill her promises of change. "Though the result of last month's General Election was not what I wanted, those defining beliefs remain; my commitment to change in Britain is undimmed," May will say this in her speech to mark one year since she took charge at Downing Street last year following David Cameron's post-Brexit referendum exit.

"My belief in the potential of the British people and what we can achieve together as a nation remains steadfast; and the determination I have to get to grips with the challenges posed by a changing world never more sure," she said. "I am convinced that the path that I set out in that first speech outside Number 10 and upon which we have set ourselves as a government remains the right one," she will say.

The speech will coincide with the launch of a report commissioned by her on tackling abuses in modern working practices in the UK and make a plea for cross-party support to implement its recommendations as well

as other policies.

"When I commissioned this report I led a majority government in the House of Commons. The reality I now face as prime minister is rather different," she will say.

"So I say to the other parties come forward with your own views and ideas about how we can tackle these challenges as a country. We may not agree on everything, but through debate and discussion the hallmarks of our parliamentary democracy ideas can be clarified and improved and a better way forward found."

The speech comes at a time when May's leadership is at its weakest, amid open calls by Tory MPs for her to stand down following her failure to secure a majority in the June 8 general election.

She is also resisting calls from pro-Europeans in her party to move away from a so-called hard Brexit, while pro- Brexiteers want her to stand firm on the issue.

The Liberal Democrats said May's latest stance looked like a plea for help on Brexit from the Opposition Labour party, even though Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was already supporting her plans.

Lib Dem Brexit spokesperson Tom Brake said: "A call for Labour to contribute is superfluous. On the single biggest issue of our generation - Brexit - Corbyn isn't contributing, he is cheerleading."

May's offer to give EU citizens in the UK "settled status" after Brexit has been described as being "far short of what citizens are entitled to", the media reported on Monday.

In a joint letter to the media, Members of the European Parliament (MEP) termed the proposal a "damp squib", reports the BBC. It offers Europeans in the UK fewer rights than Britons in the European Union, the letter said. EU migrants who had lived in the UK for five years would be granted access to health, education and other benefits. But May's proposals would be dependent on EU states guaranteeing Britons the same rights. The leaders of the four political groups who have signed the joint letter account for two-thirds of the votes in the European Parliament, the BBC reported.

Their letter points out that they have the power to reject any Brexit deal before it can go ahead because Parliament must approve the withdrawal agreement. They said the UK proposal "falls short" because it would take away rights citizens currently have, and create new red tape and uncertainty for millions of people.

European Parliament chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt told the BBC that EU citizens in the UK — and Britons living on the continent — should keep their current rights, rather than the government "inventing a new status".