May vows to fight for Brexit deal
LONDON (Reuters) — Prime Minister Theresa May vowed to fight for her draft divorce deal with the European Union after the resignation of her Brexit secretary and other ministers put her strategy and her job in peril.
Just over 12 hours after May announced that her Cabinet had agreed to the terms of the deal, Brexit minister Dominic Raab and work and pensions minister Esther McVey resigned.
Eurosceptics in May’s Conservative Party said they had submitted letters calling for a vote of no confidence in her leadership.
May called a news conference at her Downing Street residence to underline her determination to stay the course.
Asked if she would contest any challenge to her position, she replied: “Am I going to see this through? Yes.”
However, hostility from government and opposition lawmakers raised the risk that the deal would be rejected in parliament and that Britain could leave the EU on March 29 without a safety net.
That prospect pushed the pound down as much as two percent to $1.2731, although it recovered slightly after May’s statement.
The main stock index in Ireland, which is highly dependent on trade with Britain, plunged 3.8 percent.
Two junior ministers, two ministerial aides and the Conservatives’ vice chairman joined Raab and McVey in quitting.
May said she understood their unhappiness, but added: “I believe with every fiber of my being that the course I have set out is the right one for our country and all our people ... I am going to do my job of getting the best deal for Britain.”