Day: July 9, 2018

    Boris Johnson at the gates of Downing Street. Boris Johnson has resigned as foreign secretary, becoming the third minister in 24 hours to walk out of the government rather than back Theresa May’s plans for a soft Brexit. The prime minister hammered out a compromise with her deeply divided cabinet in an all-day meeting at Chequers on Friday, but after consulting friends and allies since, Johnson decided he could not promote the deal. A Downing Street spokesman said: This afternoon, the prime minister accepted the resignation of Boris Johnson as foreign secretary. His replacement will be announced shortly. The prime minister thanks Boris for his work. After the Chequers summit, it emerged that Johnson had referred to attempts to sell the prime minister’s Brexit pla...

    David Davis has resigned as Brexit secretary, shattering the hard-won consensus around Theresa May’s Chequers deal and plunging her government into crisis. His resignation was swiftly followed by that of fellow Department for Exiting the EU ministers Steve Baker and Suella Braverman. It forces May to reshuffle her government, at the same time as trying to convince backbenchers to support her plan. Davis has told friends he cannot live with the soft Brexit stance agreed between ministers on Friday, which proposes a UK-EU free trade area, governed by a common rule book. He is also said to have been livid about hostile briefing from senior figures in Downing Street about how Brexiters would be treated at Chequers including suggestions they would be given the number of...