U.K. Brexit Secretary David Davis resigned from Theresa May’s government late Sunday, his office has confirmed to multiple news outlets.
Davis resignation comes two days after May received backing from her cabinet, including Davis, for a new "soft Brexit" plan which envisioned keeping close ties with the EU after the UK's departure from the block, news which was cheered the UK business lobby and which had set cable on an upward trajectory in early Asia trading, before the news hit which halted the pound's ascent.
Former Brexit secretary David Davis
The cabinet signed up to the proposals, which were hammered out at Chequers - the country house of the UK Prime Minister - this week, and they will be set out in full in parliament this coming week.
Davis had disagreed with May’s plans for keeping EU rules for goods and adopting a close customs model with the bloc, and his resignation threatens more political turmoil, this time in the UK, as moderates are set off against hard brexiteers.
However, some pro-Brexit Tories are angry about the plan, with speculation that it could end up in a leadership challenge.
According to BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, "Davis concluded he could not stay in post after a meeting" with Theresa May earlier today - "understand he was furious at Number 10 handling"
Davis concluded he could not stay in post after a meeting in Number 10 earlier today - understand he was furious at Number 10 handling
As a reminder, late on Friday Theresa May won approval at an all-day Chequers summit for a pro-business plan to keep Britain intimately bound to the EU single market and customs union, beating back Eurosceptic cabinet opposition to her new “soft Brexit” strategy, the FT reported.
May briefed the media at 6.45pm on Friday that the cabinet had agreed a collective position to create a “UK-EU free trade area which establishes a common rulebook for industrial goods and agricultural products”. The plan would see Britain commit in a treaty to adopt new EU rules for goods— an approach viewed by some Tories as leaving the UK as “a vassal state”. Parliament could break the treaty, but trigger severe market reprisals from the EU if it did.
May challenged critics including foreign secretary Boris Johnson to back the plan for a “UK-EU free trade area” in a confrontation seen by senior Tories as a decisive moment in the tortuous Brexit process.
Johnson and five other cabinet ministers met on Thursday night at the Foreign Office to plan a counter-attack to try to preserve a clean Brexit, but they eventually concluded they could not stop Mrs May’s plan.
“People are not happy with what is being proposed but people are keen to keep the government together,” said...