Amber Rudd becomes the latest MP to leave the Conservative benches (AFP Photo/DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS) |
London (AFP) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson received a fresh blow Saturday when senior minister Amber Rudd quit her work and pensions post in protest at his handling of the Brexit crisis.
Her
resignation caps a miserable week for Johnson as he tries to steer his
splintered country through its biggest political crisis since World War II.
Rudd was a
moderate member of former prime minister Theresa May's government whose
endorsement Johnson coveted during his successful UK leadership challenge in
July.
But she
said Saturday that she could no longer endorse Johnson's approach to negotiations
with Brussels -- or handling of domestic politics.
"I
have resigned from Cabinet and surrendered the Conservative Whip," Rudd
tweeted.
"I
cannot stand by as good, loyal moderate Conservatives are expelled," she
said referring to Johnson's decision to expel 21 MPs from the Conservative
party for voting against the government on Brexit.
Rudd said
in her resignation letter that she felt uneasy about Johnson's commitment to
take Britain out of the EU on October 31 even if the two sides fail to reach a
negotiated deal.
The
56-year-old said she had once viewed Johnson's threat of a messy
"no-deal" divorce as a useful negotiating tactic to take with
Brussels.
"However,
I no longer believe leaving with a deal is the government's main
objective," she wrote in her resignation letter.
"The
government is expending a lot of energy to prepare for 'no deal' but I have not
seen the same level of intensity go into our talks with the European
Union."
'Government falling apart'
Johnson has
been adamant that he will not seek a third Brexit delay this year.
He is
instead seeking to hold an early general election on October 15 that could give
him a mandate to take Britain out on time and at any cost.
Johnson
said this week that he would "rather be dead in a ditch" than seek a
Brexit extension until January that more moderate forces demand.
The main
opposition Labour Party is plotting a strategy with smaller parliamentary
groups that could leave Johnson with no other alternative but to seek an
extension to the Brexit talks or resign.
They are
expected to push through legislation Monday forcing Johnson seek a Brexit delay
from Brussels unless he can strike a deal at an EU summit next month.
They are also
trying to make sure that a general election is held only after Johnson is
forced to go back on his word and push Brexit back again.
Johnson has
branded the delay bill a "surrender" that would allow the other 27 EU
leaders to dictate the terms on which Britain leaves its closest neighbours
after 46 years.
Both Labour
leaders and rebel Conservatives praised Rudd's decision to walk away from
Johnson.
"Everyone
has a point beyond which they cannot be pushed," centrist Conservative MP
Nick Boles tweeted.
"Amber
Rudd has reached hers. How much more of the party he inherited will Johnson
destroy before he has second thoughts or is stopped by his Cabinet
colleagues?"
Labour's
Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said Johnson was "being totally found
out" six weeks into his job.
"Johnson
government falling apart," Starmer tweeted.
But Brexit
Party leader Nigel Farage -- an anti-EU populist who is trying to forge an
election alliance with Johnson -- said the British leader made a mistake by
taking Rudd on in the first place.
"Why
did Boris give ministerial posts to all these Remainers in the first
place?" Farage asked in a tweet.
"Confused
thinking to say the least."
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.