EX-UK BREXIT OFFICIAL CHALLENGES PM TO BE FIRM

Former UK Brexit Secretary David Davis said Monday that he won’t seek to challenge Prime Minister Theresa May’s leadership after resigning from her Cabinet, but will aim to pressure her to toughen her position on Britain’s departure from the European Union. Davis quit late Sunday, saying he could not support May’s plan for close trade and regulatory ties with the EU after Brexit next year, commonly known as a “soft Brexit.” His resignation dealt yet another blow to the beleaguered leader, just two days after she announced she had finally united her quarrelsome government behind a plan for a divorce deal with the EU. Davis said he believed Britain was “giving too much away, too easily” in the exit talks, saying that May’s plan “would be a risk at least of delivering a poor outcome.”