LONDON – British Prime Minister Theresa May’s effort to secure her country an orderly withdrawal from the European Union was dealt a major blow Thursday with the abrupt resignation of Dominic Raab, the minister responsible for negotiating Brexit.
May won the support of her bitterly divided Cabinet on Wednesday for a draft deal to leave the EU after months of stalled talks, bickering and setbacks that have threatened the messy divorce known as Brexit as well as May’s leadership.
But she had to make some big concessions to the EU to achieve the deal: Britain, for example, will remain tied to the bloc’s customs union for a lengthy transition period.
In his resignation letter, Raab, Britain’s Brexit Secretary, said he could not “in good conscience” support the deal because it “presents a very real threat to the integrity of the United Kingdom.” The British pound fell 1% against the dollar on the news.
A junior minister for Northern Ireland also resigned over the draft deal.
May, who is due to address lawmakers later Thursday on the draft Brexit deal, is already facing an uphill struggle to convince enough lawmakers in Parliament to accept the agreement with the EU before it is scheduled to depart the bloc in March.
May secured the backing of her Cabinet for the deal with the EU following an “impassioned” five-hour debate. “I firmly believe, with my head and my heart that this is a decision which is in the best interests of the United Kingdom,” she said, referring to the support from her Cabinet as a “collective agreement.”
Yet while securing Cabinet approval was an important step for May, the deal still needs approval from the EU at a summit in the next few weeks. Then May will need to win backing from Britain’s Parliament, where pro-Brexit and pro-EU legislators alike are threatening to oppose it. Thursday’s Cabinet-level resignations add to the pressure.
Pro-Brexit lawmakers in May’s divided Conservative Party are angry, saying the agreement will leave Britain tethered to the EU after it departs the bloc.
Britain voted to leave the EU by 52 percent to 48 percent in the vote. Some polling data indicate that if there were a second Brexit vote a majority would chose to stay in the EU. May has repeatedly rejected the idea of holding a second vote.
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