Britain’s Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab has resigned, saying he “cannot in good conscience support the terms proposed for our deal with the EU.”
The resignation is a big blow to Prime Minister Theresa May, who is scheduled to address lawmakers Thursday morning on the draft Brexit deal. She is already facing an uphill struggle to persuade enough lawmakers in Parliament to accept the agreement with the European Union.
May made some major concessions to the EU to achieve the deal: Britain, for example, will remain tied to the European Union’s customs union during the transition period and potentially for much longer.
Raab said the agreement was unacceptable and that “no democratic nation has ever signed up to be bound by such an extensive regime.”
About an hour after Raab resigned, Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey quit, saying the deal “does not honour the result of the referendum” in which Britain voted to leave the EU.
The resignations leave May’s Brexit deal, and her leadership of the Conservative Party, in peril.
The pound fell sharply after Raab resigned. Read more