Boris Johnson has sensationally resigned from the Cabinet, sending Theresa May’s government into disarray.
The Foreign Secretary quit his post mid-afternoon on Monday, just hours after David Davis stepped down as Brexit Secretary.
The high-profile resignation in Theresa May’s Cabinet came just days after her countryside summit at Chequers where government ministers heard her Brexit negotiation.
Although the Prime Minster had called for unity among her ministers, she has now been hit by a double resignation as outraged Brexiteers accused her of giving “too much away, too easily” and leaving the UK in a “weak negotiating position”.
And Donald Tusk added to Theresa May’s woes when the European Council President said ‘the mess caused by Brexit is the biggest problem in the history of EU-UK relations’.
Critics said the latest Tory resignation ‘completely destroyed the Conservative position’, with bookmakers giving odds of just 6/4 that there would be a general election this year.
The dramatic development saw one bookie slash odds of Johnson becoming next Conservative leader to just 3/1.
Mrs May, however, stood by her Brexit position as she addressed MPs just minutes after Mr Johnson’s shock resignation.
She said: ‘This is a Brexit that is in our national interest… It is the right Brexit deal for Britain.’
Calling on the EU to “intensify” negotiations over the summer, she said: ‘What we are proposing is challenging to the EU, it requires them to think again and look beyond the positions they have taken so far and agree a fair balance of rights and obligations.’
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.’
David Davis was the first minister to quit, announcing his exit just before midnight on Sunday.
He was replaced as Brexit Secretary by Dominic Raab, a staunch Eurosceptic who’s previously clashed with the Prime Minister over equality issues.
But there was growing speculation about Mr Johnson’s plans on Monday after he failed to attend a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergencies committee as well as a summit of Western Balkan nations being held in London.
At 3pm on Monday, a statement was issued by Downing Street to say: “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.”
Mr Johnson had been due to attend the Western Balkans Summit in London’s Docklands this afternoon and to give a press conference at 5pm.
Liberal Democrats leader Sir Vince Cable said: “He might have taken time to pluck up the courage to join his hard Brexiteer colleagues, but Boris Johnson’s resignation completely destroys the Conservative position.
‘Johnson had already described the proposals as ‘a turd’, and now they will surely be flushed away.’
