MAY, MAYBE NOT: BREXIT ROW SPARKS RESIGNATIONS

LONDON: The future of Theresa May as Britain’s Prime Minister was in doubt on Thursday after a draft Brexit agreement finalised after months of fractious talks with Brussels triggered a series of resignations and a growing challenge to her leadership.

The agreement got tenuous backing from May’s cabinet after a marathon session on Wednesday, but cracks emerged with the resignations of four ministers, including, ironically, Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, central to reaching the agreement.

Besides Raab, those who resigned included cabinet minister Esther Mcvey and Indianorigin ministers of state Shailesh Vara and Suella Braverman (nee Fernandes), two parliamentary private secretaries and two other aides. Braverman was a minister in Raab's Brexit department.

The agreement envisages continued links with the European Union after the UK leaves the bloc on March 29, 2019, infuriating hardliners in May’s Conservative Party, and uniting supporters and opponents of Brexit. Calls for another referendum to resolve the imbroglio grew.

As the agreement set off reverberations in Westminster and the markets, European Council president Donald Tusk scheduled a meeting on November 25 to “finalise and formalise” the pact. It is then supposed to be ratified by the parliaments of the UK and 27 EU states.

But the parliamentary arithmetic is against May, who was repeatedly told by her MPS and others that the agreement will be defeated in the House of Commons.