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British ministers quit over draft Brexit agreement
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IANS | 15 Nov, 2018
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab
and another senior UK minister resigned on Thursday, just hours after
Prime Minister Theresa May secured her Cabinet's backing on a draft EU
withdrawal deal following lengthy and tense meetings with her
government.
Raab, who only took office in July when his
predecessor David Davis quit due to his conflicting views with May, said
that he "cannot in good conscience support" the UK's draft Brexit
agreement with the EU, the BBC reported.
His resignation, just as
the Brexit negotiations appeared to be entering their twilight stages,
came as a huge blow to May amid growing calls among hardline Tories for a
vote of no confidence against their leader.
May was set to speak in the Parliament later in the day to sell the new "divorce deal".
"I
regret to say that following the Cabinet meeting yesterday on the
Brexit deal, I must resign," the Conservative Party politician said in
his resignation letter to May.
Raab said he could not back the
proposed measures of keeping Northern Ireland in regulatory alignment
with the EU as a way to avoid a hard border with the Republic of Ireland
and nor could he support an indefinite backstop arrangement, whereby
the UK would remain in a customs union until a future deal with the bloc
is fully thrashed out.
"Above all, I cannot reconcile with the
terms of the proposed deal with the promises we made to the country in
our manifesto at the last election," he said.
Pound sterling dropped one per cent against the euro and the dollar upon Raab's announcement.
Following
Raab's move, British Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey announced
his resignation and said the withdrawal deal "did not honour the result
of the referendum". "This is a matter of trust," she said in
her resignation letter. "It is about the future of our country and the
integrity of our democracy."
Earlier in the day, Shailesh Vara,
Minister of Northern Ireland state, also quit over the deal. Vara, who
backed to remain in EU in the 2016 referendum, said he feared the UK
would stay in limbo for years while a permanent deal with the EU was
negotiated.
UK Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn called it a "botched deal".
"After
two years of bungled negotiations, from what we know of the
government's deal, it's a failure in its own terms." It seems highly
unlikely that his party would support May's deal when it comes to a
vote.
On Wednesday, May after a five-hour Cabinet meeting on the
draft deal, cleared the first hurdle when the ministers finally approved
the draft terms of her EU withdrawal agreement, which needs to be
ratified by the British Parliament and the remaining 27 EU countries.
At
present, she is facing a battle to get it through Parliament as
Brexiteer Conservative member of the Parliament -- as well as some
Remainers -- condemned the plan, accusing her of breaking promises and
handing control back to Brussels.
"The draft agreement is the
best that could be negotiated," May said after the Cabinet meeting on
Wednesday. "The deal enables us to take back control."
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Customs Exchange Rates |
Currency |
Import |
Export |
US Dollar
|
66.20
|
64.50 |
UK Pound
|
87.50
|
84.65 |
Euro
|
78.25
|
75.65 |
Japanese
Yen |
58.85 |
56.85 |
As on 13 Aug, 2022 |
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Daily Poll |
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