Tory turmoil over secret letter

FRIENDS of Britain’s Brexit minister David Davis say he is on the brink of resigning over the bombshell Brexit letter sent by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove to Theresa May.

The letter setting out their blueprint for a post-EU Britain was kept secret from the rest of the British cabinet – including Mr Davis – until it was leaked last week.

The missive effectively calls for Mr Davis to be sidelined by a new, non-elected ‘Brexit Tsar’. Mr Davis’s allies say he is ‘deeply frustrated’ by the way the pair went behind his back to hand-deliver the letter to the prime minister’s chief of staff. Last night, Downing Street added to his humiliation by failing to deny that the Brexit minister had still not seen a copy of the letter.

In the letter, foreign minister Mr Johnson and environment minister Mr Gove said Mrs May must prepare for crashing out of the EU after a ‘total breakdown’ in Brexit talks.

The rebel pair said she should force all cabinet ministers to ‘submit to a process’ to prove they are enforcing a ‘hard Brexit’ blueprint – including recruiting thousands of extra customs and immigration officers.

They also said she should seek a free trade agreement with the EU and they spell out what they see as the risk of the Brexit talks collapsing before Britain leaves: ‘The worst case is a total breakdown in March 2019 but even if we avoid that we may still have a “no-deal” outcome.’

They also fear chaos at ports and airports. ‘We are most concerned about customs rules where the UK must be in a position to charge import duties and conduct checks on EU goods. This will require upgrading facilities at ports and recruiting thousands of customs officers.’

They claim mandarins are incapable of implementing a ‘hard Brexit’ and must be replaced. They also push the appointment of a ‘Brexit Tsar’ (with Tory Brexit leaders favouring former chief executive of Vote Leave Matthew Elliott).

A spokesman for Mr Davis said: ‘It is completely wrong that he is considering resigning.’