Brexit Secretary David Davis resigns

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Brexit Secretary David Davis resigns
  GARETH ICKE 7 hours ago  UK News
https://www.davidicke.com/article/484847/brexit-secretary-david-davis-resigns

  "'Brexit Secretary David Davis has resigned from the UK government.

   His departure comes days after Theresa May secured the cabinet's
   backing for her Brexit plan despite claims from critics that it was
   "soft".

   Mr Davis was appointed to the post in 2016 and was responsible for
   negotiating the UK's EU withdrawal.

   Junior minister Steve Baker quit shortly after Mr Davis - as Mrs May
   prepares to face MPs and peers later.

   In his resignation letter, Mr Davis told Mrs May "the current trend of
   policy and tactics" was making it "look less and less likely" that the
   UK would leave the customs union and single market.

   He said he was "unpersuaded" that the government's negotiating approach
   "will not just lead to further demands for concessions" from Brussels.

   Mr Davis said: "The general direction of policy will leave us in at
   best a weak negotiating position, and possibly an inescapable one."

   In her reply, Mrs May said: "I do not agree with your characterisation
   of the policy we agreed at Cabinet on Friday."

   She said she was "sorry" he was leaving but would "like to thank you
   warmly for everything you have done... to shape our departure from the
   EU".
   'Absolute chaos'

   Conservative MP Peter Bone hailed the resignation as a "principled and
   brave decision", adding: "The PM's proposals for a Brexit in name only
   are not acceptable."

   Labour Party chairman Ian Lavery said: "This is absolute chaos and
   Theresa May has no authority left."

   Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mrs May was "incapable of delivering
   Brexit".'

   Read more: Brexit Secretary David Davis resigns  "

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Dominic Raab replaces David Davis as Brexit secretary
33 minutes ago  1590 comments
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-44763998


Dominic Raab is a former chief of staff to Mr Davis

  "Dominic Raab has been appointed Brexit secretary by Theresa May after
   David Davis resigned from the government.

   Mr Raab, who is currently housing minister, was a prominent Leave
   campaigner during the 2016 referendum.
   Mr Davis quit late on Sunday night, saying Theresa May had "given away
   too much too easily".
   The 44-year old Mr Raab, a lawyer before becoming an MP in 2010, will
   now take over day-to-day negotiations with the EU's Michel Barnier.

   * Live: Reaction to Davis exit
   * Brexit Secretary David Davis resigns

   The UK is due to leave the European Union on 29 March 2019, but the two
   sides have yet to agree how trade will work between the UK and the EU
   afterwards.
   There have been differences within the Conservative Party over how far
   the UK should prioritise the economy by compromising on issues such as
   leaving the remit of the European Court of Justice and ending free
   movement of people.
   Mrs May's Conservative Party only has a majority in Parliament with the
   support in key votes of the 10 MPs from Northern Ireland's Democratic
   Unionist Party, so any split raises questions about whether her plan
   could survive a Commons vote - and has also led to renewed questions
   about whether she will face a challenge to her position.
   Mr Raab has served in government since after the 2015 election,
   initially working in the Ministry of Justice before moving to the
   communities department in January.
   The European Commission has declined to comment on the change of
   personnel, saying it would continue to negotiate with "good will" to
   try and secure an agreement on the terms of the UK's exit and future
   relations.
   Asked how much of a problem Mr Davis's resignation was for the future
   of the negotiations, a spokesman replied: "It is not for us, we are
   here to work".

   * At-a-glance: The new UK Brexit plan
   * Brexit: All you need to know

   Mr Davis said he could not remain in his post because he no longer
   believed in the plan for the UK's future relations with the EU which
   was backed by the cabinet on Friday.
   He said he hoped his resignation would make it easier for the UK to
   resist EU attempts to extract further concessions - but he insisted he
   was not seeking to undermine or challenge the prime minister.
   In an interview with the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg, Mr
   Davis said Mr Raab would be "very effective" in the post.
   
   [Video]
   David Davis explains why he resigned

   He said he would talk to Mr Raab, who once served as his chief of
   staff, about the challenges he faces: "You hand over a job and tell him
   what the pitfalls are. That is what I will do."
   Reflecting on his resignation, he said he had lived with compromises in
   Brexit policy for two years but there came a point where these went
   "too far".
   "I worry about the fine detail and that it will not work out as we
   hope," he said.
   Asked what he would say to colleagues who thought it was time to remove
   Theresa May, he replied it was "not a good idea" - insisting that she
   was a "good prime minister".

   
   The mood at Westminster, by Iain Watson

   The atmosphere is volatile. The long-standing Leave supporters of the
   European Research Group of Tory MPs will have two meetings today -
   either side of the PM's address to her own MPs - to discuss next steps.
   Views differ on whether the government's position is simply impractical
   - "the worst of both worlds" - or whether it actually breaches a
   manifesto commitment by offering a customs union in all but name.
   But there is agreement amongst many Brexiteers that the policy should
   change, and quickly. It is less clear how they will bring that about.
   If there is not a direct triggering of a leadership contest, what are
   the options?
   One is that Brexiteers go "on strike" and refuse to back government
   policy in parliament, weakening her premiership unless she changes
   course.
   Another is that backbench Brexiteers put more pressure on like-minded
   cabinet colleagues to follow David Davis out the door.
   

   Speaking to the BBC last week, Mr Raab said the process of negotiating
   Brexit was "rocky" but what mattered was getting there in the end,
   which would require "flexibility and pragmatism".
   He told the Political Thinking podcast that he was "relaxed" about the
   UK leaving without a deal and it was "not something I would fear".
   Conservative MPs welcomed the appointment of Mr Raab, who has a black
   belt in karate, one describing him as a "highly capable" figure with a
   clear attention to detail.
   But Labour said a new man fronting the negotiations "changed nothing".
   "The deep division at the heart of the Conservative Party has broken
   out in public and plunged this government into crisis," said shadow
   Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer.
   "It is now clearer than ever that Theresa May does not have the
   authority to negotiate for Britain or deliver a Brexit deal that
   protects jobs and the economy."

   * David Davis - the maverick minister
   * Resignation letter and May's reply in full
   * Brexit: Your guide to EU jargon

   Asked whether Mr Raab would be in charge of the talks, No 10 said Mrs
   May had "always been, from the outset, the lead negotiator".
   But a spokesman said there was a "huge body of work to be done, in
   terms of preparations for the UK leaving the EU and that obviously
   includes no-deal preparations as well".
   Mrs May will address Parliament later on the plan agreed at Chequers on
   Friday as well as address Tory MPs as she seeks to keep her Brexit
   strategy on track.
   Ahead of Monday's statement, opposition MPs and peers - as well as Tory
   MPs - are being offered briefings by Downing Street on the detail of
   the Chequers statement.
   A spokesman for the European Research Group of eurosceptic Tory MPs
   told the BBC that involving opposition MPs had caused considerable
   anger and was the government's "stupidest mistake".
   And Jacob Rees-Mogg, who chairs the group, likened a PM relying on
   opposition MPs to the children's story in which the gingerbread man
   accepts the offer of a ride across a river from a fox, only to get
   eaten by it.
   Junior Brexit minister Steve Baker also resigned overnight. He told the
   BBC's Daily Politics that he had been "blindsided" by the Brexit
   proposal agreed at Chequers and that he and his team had been preparing
   a white paper "which did not accord with what has been put to the
   cabinet at Chequers".