THERESA CLINGING ON:
THERESA May was left clinging to power last night as Dominic Raab led a ministerial exodus over her Brexit plans with a devastating parting shot at the Prime Minister for breaking her promise to voters.
Quitting as Brexit Secretary, Mr Raab said he could not “in good conscience” stand by the fatally flawed deal.
The resignation was a shattering blow to the Prime Minister, the morning after she secured Cabinet backing for the withdrawal proposals in a bruising five-hour meeting.
Mr Raab was swiftly followed by Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey, who told Mrs May the Brexit deal “does not honour the result of the referendum”.
No 10 was braced for further resignations as anger about the “divorce” deal snowballed.
International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt was said to have asked for a private meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss her concerns.
A string of junior ministers and aides walked out with dire warnings about the impact the agreement struck with Brussels would have on the country.
Mr Raab said the proposals on offer threatened the future of the United Kingdom and left open the possibility of Britain being tied permanently to a backstop regime.
In a letter to Mrs May, he said: “The terms of the backstop amount to a hybrid of the EU Customs Union and Single Market obligations.
‘We have gone from no deal is better than a bad deal to any deal is better than no deal’
No democratic nation has ever signed up to be bound by such an extensive regime, imposed externally without any democratic control over the laws to be applied, nor the ability to decide to exit the arrangement.”
Mr Raab made it clear that while he had been in charge of the Brexit negotiations in name, Mrs May had steamrollered his concerns, leaving him with no choice but to quit.
“Above all, I cannot reconcile the terms of the proposed deal with the promises we made to the country in our manifesto at the last election,” Mr Raab wrote.
“This is, at its heart, a matter of public trust.
“Ultimately, you deserve a Brexit Secretary who can make the case for the deal you are pursuing with conviction. I am only sorry, in good conscience, that I cannot.”
Ms McVey told Mrs May of her fears for the future of the Union and a lack of control over money, law, borders and trade policy, under a deal she said kept the UK too close to Brussels.
“The British people have always been ahead of politicians on this issue, and it will be no good trying to pretend to them that this deal honours the result of the referendum when it is obvious to everyone that it doesn’t,” she wrote.
“We have gone from no deal is better than a bad deal, to any deal is better than no deal.
“I cannot defend this, and I cannot vote for this deal. I could not look my constituents in the eye were I to do that.”
Mrs May was left scrabbling for a replacement for Mr Raab in a role that has now become viewed as a “poisoned chalice”.
David Davis quit the job in July after the Prime Minister overruled his objections to her Chequers blueprint for future relations with the European Union.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the influential European Research Group of Brexiteer Tories, said the position should be scrapped as it was obvious Mrs May was in control of the exit talks.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove, a leading Leave campaigner, is understood to have been approached about the role but said he would accept only if parts of the agreement could be renegotiated.
As well as fighting to stem the flow of ministers from her government, Mrs May also endured three hours of brutal questioning by MPs before the ERG met to discuss plans to topple her.
In extraordinary scenes Mr ReesMogg held a press conference on the steps of Parliament to say he no longer had confidence in Mrs May’s premiership.
He said he expected a leadership challenge would soon be triggered and named Boris Johnson, Mr Raab, Ms McVey, Mr Davis and Ms Mordaunt as potential successors. And Brexit Minister Suella Braverman and Northern Ireland Minister Shailesh Vara were among those to heap pressure on the premier by handing in their resignations.
Mrs Braverman said the concessions made in the agreement did “not respect the will of the people”.
Mr Vara said: “We are a proud nation and it is a sad day when we are reduced to obeying rules made by other countries who have shown that they do not have our best interests at heart.”
Ministerial aides Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Ranil Jayawardena, along with Conservative Party vicechairman Rehman Chishti, also quit. But Scottish Secretary David Mundell, said he would not be “bounced” into resigning amid speculation about his position.
Mr Mundell accused Mr Raab of being a “carpetbagger” whose resignation was “about manoeuvring and leadership”.
He said: “Only a couple of years ago Dominic Raab was proposing to introduce a bill of rights into Scotland which would have overridden the Scottish legal system and devolution.
“So I’m not impressed by his latter-day commitment to the Union. I’m sure this is more about manoeuvring and leadership.”