Theresa May’s premiership is teetering on the verge of collapse after she unveiled a draft agreement on Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union described as “the worst deal in history” — but what are the sticking points, and how did we get here?

The Prime Minister’s leadership of the British government and the Conservative and Unionist Party has never seemed more in doubt after the terms of her draft withdrawal agreement caused a number of her ministers to resign in protest, but the political landscape could be confusing for observers too busy to keep up with at least four years of intrigues and infighting.

The Road to the Referendum

While often regarded as “eurosceptic”, Britain’s governing Conservative Party — also known as the Tories — did, in fact, facilitate the country’s entry into the European Economic Community (EEC) in the 1970s, and signed off on the Maastricht Treaty which transformed it into the European Union in the 1990s.

It has always contained a tranche of politicians who genuinely support a British exit from the European Union, but no Tory leader has ever been an “out” Brexiteer, and EU loyalists have always made up a majority of its parliamentarians — if not of their ordinary members or voters.

This state of affairs led to the party haemorrhaging an increasing number of votes to the UK Independence Party (UKIP), founded to campaign for Brexit in 1993. This once-fringe organisation’s popularity grew to the point where it actually came in first place in the European Parliamentary elections of 2014, creating real fears among the Tories that UKIP would cost them key marginal seats in the General Election the following year, at a time when none of the mainstream political parties commanded an outright majority in Parliament.

In an attempt to defang the UKIP snake, Tory prime minister David Cameron — then governing in coalition with the left-liberal, fanatically europhile Liberal Democrats — offered to hold an in/out referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union in his 2015 election manifesto.

The political consensus at the time was that, as in 2010, no one political party would win an outright parliamentary majority in the 2015 election, and so there was some question as to whether Cameron ever really planned on holding an EU referendum. Many commentators believed the proposal was simply a ploy to win UKIP votes, and that he was confident a referendum would, in fact, be blocked by the other, anti-referendum parties in Parliament when the time came for his minority or coalition government to honour his pledge.

As it turned out, however, the Tories did win an outright, if fairly slim, majority in an upset victory, inadvertently forcing him to hold a vote for real.

MPs authorised the referendum legislation by a voting margin of around six to one, but only a small minority of them actually backed Brexit in the subsequent campaign — perhaps a third of Tory MPs, the small band of Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MPs representing Northern Ireland, and a mere handful of politicians from the left-wing opposition parties.

There was a confident expectation that the official Remain campaign, backed by all the machinery of the British government and the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales, with the support of big business and the global establishment — including then-U.S. President Barack Obama and the leadership of the International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, and other international bodies — would carry the day.

They were all stunned when, in defiance of the polls, the British public backed Leave by a margin of well over a million votes on June 23rd, 2016, thanks in large part to a huge number of working-class voters being won over by Nigel Farage’s warning that Brexit was the only way to bring end years of uncontrolled mass migration.

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

David Cameron, despite promising to see Brexit through if the people backed Leave prior to the referendum, stepped down as Prime Minister and Tory leader the morning after the result was announced — and the race was then on to find a replacement.

British prime ministers are not directly elected by the people, with the position instead falling to whoever can command a majority in Parliament — in practice, this is generally the leader of the largest party in the House of Commons.

The Tories, more particularly, select their leaders from among their Parliamentary Party, with MPs winnowing a slate of candidates down to a final two, who then submit themselves to a ballot of all party members.

A number of prominent Brexiteer Tories put their names forward — but, as mentioned above, Brexiteers are a minority within the Tory Party.

This allowed Remain-supporting Home Secretary Theresa May to secure the lion’s share of support among the party’s MPs — with Andrea Leadsom, the relatively unknown Brexiteer candidate who reached the final two with her, simply stepping aside rather than contest the leadership in a ballot of all party members, believing she did not have sufficient support among her predominantly Remain-supporting parliamentary colleagues to lead an effective administration.

This outcome was unpopular with the party membership — who unlike their MPs mostly backed Leave — but they were reassured when Mrs May appeared to adopt a strong Brexit platform, promising she would deliver on the Leave vote with a deal that took Britain out of the EU’s Customs Union, Single Market, and associated Free Movement regime.

Moreover, she warned that, if Brussels would not agree a free trade agreement on such terms, she was clear that “no deal is better than a bad deal”.

With the opposition Labour Party in the doldrums under Jeremy Corbyn, an old-fashioned socialist who had been a marginal figure among Labour MPs prior to his election to the leadership by the party membership in 2015 — thanks to new rules which opened up the contest to a large number of hard left entryists — Theresa May decided to call a snap General Election, hoping to take advantage of polls indicating she would secure a greatly increased majority.

She did significantly increase both the overall number of ballots cast for her party and its share of the popular vote overall in the June 2017 vote– but, against all odds, Corbyn also increased his share of the vote, and in such a way that the Tories remained the single largest party in the House of Commons but lost their outright parliamentary majority.

A so-called “confidence and supply” arrangement was concluded with Northern Ireland’s DUP so that she could carry key votes in the Commons and remain in power, but her authority was shattered.

Despite her tough words on becoming party leader, it soon became clear that the Remain-supporting Prime Minister had little faith in Britain’s ability to succeed in the face of an intransigent European Union.

It was months before she finally activated Article 50, the legal mechanism for leaving the European Union provided by the EU treaties, and began the two-year negotiating period it entails.

Defiant words on no deal being better than a bad deal — leaving the EU without a formal exit agreement and simply dealing with the bloc on the same World Trade Organisation terms as countries like America and Australia has always been an option — soon appeared to melt away, with the Prime Minister agreeing to pay the bloc a multi-billion divorce settlement, despite the fact the United Kingdom has put more into the EU’s shared budget than it has taken out of it for decades.

Worse, the EU appeared to grant her nothing in return for this enormous payout — not even continued participation in relatively minor projects like the Galileo satellite programme, which Britain played a large role in funding and developing — but merely demanded the money as the price of moving on to a second phase of negotiations in which a future trade relationship which would be discussed.

The EU provides for free movement of goods, capital, services and labour between member-states as part of its Single Market.

There are catches, however: goods are subject to a common set of EU standards interpreted by a European Court of Justice; the Single Market in Services exists more in theory than in practice; and Free Movement of Labour has evolved into Free Movement of People — with very limited opportunities to deport EU foreigners even if they are jobless, living as vagrants, or have criminal records.

The heart of the bloc, however, is its Customs Union. The European Union either speaks for or dictates a “common position” to of all of its members on global trade bodies, such as the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), sets common external tariffs on non-EU imports, and it enjoys “exclusive competence” in international trade negotiations.

This means that the UK, which is unique in the EU in that it does the bulk of its trade with countries outside the bloc, cannot negotiate free trade agreements with some of its most significant partners, including the United States and its old allies in the Commonwealth of Nations, and must instead rely on the EU to negotiate deals on its behalf.

Deals which would suit British interests but not the interests of, say, German manufacturing or French farmers, have therefore not been produced.

It had been hoped that Brexit would be an opportunity for Britain to finally strike those deals, and to lower tariffs on food, clothing, and footwear not made in the UK to help consumers — but the deal Theresa May has negotiated with the EU will not allow this.

Backstops and Customs and More, Oh My

After Brexit, the European Union’s only land border with the United Kingdom will run along the frontier between the Republic of Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland.

The European Union had claimed that the only way to avoid a so-called ‘hard border’ between the Republic and the Province is for the latter to remain entirely within its Customs Union and Single Market, necessitating customs checks between Northern Ireland and the British mainland.

A majority of residents in the troubled province support the British Union, and were for many years subjected to a paramilitary terror campaign by elements within the Irish nationalist minority who sought to absorb Northern Ireland into an all-island state.

The DUP, the main representative of the British Unionist majority in Northern Ireland, was therefore totally unwilling to countenance the EU’s proposal — the so-called “backstop solution” to keeping the Irish border open — as it would at least to some extent sunder Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom, and turn it into a kind of EU province.

Rather than insist on technical solutions and mutual recognition of standards to resolve the border question, however, Theresa May chose to offer concessions: she said she would keep the entire United Kingdom in the EU Customs Union, and submit to a ‘common rulebook’ for goods identical to the EU’s rulebook, as interpreted by the EU court.

This would avoid the need for a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland or between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK — but the price is that Britain will remain unable to strike meaningful trade deals even after Brexit, or set its own rules with respect to goods and customs — or even have a minority say over them, as it does as an EU member.

This deal formed the basis of Theresa May’s so-called ‘Chequers Plan’ for Brexit, and began the exodus of Brexit-supporting Tories from her administration.

The first to go was the David Davis, the Secretary of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) specifically created to deliver Brexit, and the nominal chief negotiator for Britain in its negotiations with the EU.

He and his junior minister, Steve Baker, indicated that ‘Chequers’ had been developed essentially behind their backs by Theresa May’s main EU adviser, Soviet-sympathising bureaucrat Olly Robbins, while they had been working on an entirely different set of proposals (and ‘No Deal’ contingencies) in the belief that they would form the basis of Britain’s proposals.

Davis was followed by Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary Boris Johnson, who had been the effective leader of the official Vote Leave campaign during the referendum, who argued that the PM’s plan would reduce Britain to the status of an “EU colony”.

The rebels failed to mount a leadership challenge against the Prime Minister, however — with insiders reporting there was some disagreement between Davis and Johnson over who should take over from May as leader — and she reacted by simply strengthening her grip on the Cabinet.

Johnson was replaced with Jeremy Hunt — a staunch Remainer — and Davis was replaced with Dominic Raab — a less prominent Brexiteer, who was soon officially sidelined in the negotiations by May and the civil servant Robbins.

By now, more than two years had passed since the Leave vote in 2016. Remainer politicians, who had largely claimed they would “respect the result” in the weeks and months after the referendum, were emboldened by the shambolic conduct of the negotiations, and a belief that enough older Leave voters had died and enough young Remainers come of age that they could now win a re-run.

A large segment of opposition MPs and a small band of Tory EU loyalists thus began openly agitating for “the people” to have a “final say” on the Prime Minister’s deal, with the option of staying in the EU after all if they voted against it.

This campaign has been organised under the cross-party “People’s Vote” banner and bankrolled in part by billionaire plutocrat George Soros — a matter of some controversy, when the Hungarian-American’s conduct is considered alongside ongoing efforts by elements of the “Remain Resistance” to dismiss the original Leave vote as illegitimate due to unsubstantiated claims of foreign interference in the 2016 referendum.

It is against this backdrop that Theresa May’s draft withdrawal agreement with the European Union, based on her Chequers proposals, has been unveiled, to nigh-universal condemnation.

It stipulates that not only shall Britain hand over tens of billions of pounds to the European Union despite no guarantee of inclusion in Galileo and other joint programmes, but it shall indeed submit to an EU-regulated, UK-wide “single customs territory” in goods and agri-products — the services industry so important to Britain is excluded — and it shall additionally submit Northern Ireland to extra Single Market obligations.

This would mean that, for the first time, the Irish government in Dublin would, through its role in EU rulemaking, have in some ways more of a say over Northern Ireland’s laws than either London or the local administration in Belfast.

Incredibly, the agreement also requires the United Kingdom to accept that it cannot pull out of this “backstop” arrangement unilaterally, but must first secure the permission of the European Union or appeal to a third party arbitrator — an even more dependent situation than it finds itself in as a full EU member.

These “backstop” concessions by the Prime Minister on Northern Ireland, more than any others, appears to have been the final straw for not only Tory Brexiteers, but for the DUP MPs on whom the Prime Minister relies for her parliamentary majority. They have all vowed to vote down the deal when it comes before Parliament for approval.

However, even these dire arrangements will come into force only after a so-called ‘transition period’ following Britain’s formal exit from the EU in March 2019, in which it will essentially remain a full EU member minus its representation in EU institutions.

It was initially thought that this ‘transition’ would last only to the end of 2020, but the withdrawal agreement states that it could be extended to “[December 31 20XX]” by mutual agreement — meaning the United Kingdom could theoretically remain in EU purgatory until December 2099.

Dominic Raab, David Davis’s successor as Secretary of State for Brexit, was the first big hitter to walk out of government over the withdrawal agreement. Like his predecessor, he was kept in the dark about the Prime Minister’s plans until the last moment, and refused to board a jet waiting to take him to Brussels so he could stand beside lead EU negotiator Michel Barnier as the deal was unveiled there.

He has been followed by the Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Esther McVey, and a number of Ministers of State.

Perhaps most significantly, however, the European Research Group (ERG) faction of Brexit-supporting Tory MPs and their influential ad hoc leader, Jacob Rees-Mogg, have finally stopped campaigning only for the Prime Minister’s policies to be changed, and are now calling for fresh leadership as well.

A vote of no confidence, therefore, appears to be in the offing, with it seeming certain that enough letters have been sent to to the chairman of the 1922 committee, which represents Tory MPs who are not government ministers (backbenchers), to reach the 15 per cent threshold required to trigger a leadership challenge under Conservative Party rules.

Even if the Prime Minister survives a confidence vote, it seems certain her deal will not survive a parliamentary vote, with the left-wing opposition, the DUP, and a large number of her own MPs now determined to vote against it come what may.

With the country ill-prepared for a ‘No Deal’ clean Brexit — arguably deliberately, in order to bounce Brexiteers into accepting Brexit In Name Only — and no majority for it in a Remain-dominated Parliament, it is now very unclear how things will unfold.

Either the country will have to find a way to make ‘No Deal’ work with only a few months to go before Brexit Day next March, or the question of whether Britain will leave the EU at all will be reopened through the mechanism of a so-called “People’s Vote”.

The latter option faces legal obstacles and would require collusion between British Remainers and the EU itself — but with senior EU loyalists including Tony Blair, Sir John Major, and Sir Nick Clegg having held regular meetings with the EU’s negotiating team ever since the Leave vote was cast, it may well be that a contingency plan for just such an event has already been hatched.</s>Dominic Raab has quit as Brexit Secretary in a huge blow to Theresa May's plans for the UK's departure from the EU.

In his letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Raab's said the deal represents a "very real threat to the integrity of the United Kingdom" because of provisions for Northern Ireland.

He's also refused to accept what he's called "an indefinite backstop arrangement" for the Irish border.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Esther McVey has also resigned from the Cabinet.

The Tatton MP wrote: "The British people have always been ahead of politicians on this issue, and it will be no good trying to pretend to them that this deal honours the result of the referendum when it is obvious to everyone that it doesn't.

"We have gone from no deal is better than a bad deal, to any deal is better than no deal.

"I cannot defend this, and I cannot vote for this deal. I could not look my constituents in the eye were I to do that.

"I therefore have no alternative but to resign from the Government."

It has been an honour to serve in your government as Justice Minister, Housing Minister and Brexit Secretary.

I regret to say that, following the Cabinet meeting yesterday on the Brexit deal. I must resign. I understand why you have chosen to pursue the deal with the EU on the terms proposed, and I respect the different views held in good faith by all of our colleagues.

For my part, I cannot support the proposed deal for two reasons. First I believe that the regulatory regime proposed for Northern Ireland presents a very real threat to the integrity of the United Kingdom.

Second, I cannot support an indefinite backstop arrangement, where the EU holds a veto over our ability to exit. The terms of the backstop amount to a hybrid of the EU Customs Union and Single Market obligations. No democratic nation has ever signed up to be bound by such an extensive regime, imposed externally without any democratic control over the laws to be applied, nor the ability to decide to exit the arrangement. That arrangement is now also taken as the starting point for negotiating the Future Economic Partnership. If we accept that, it will severely prejudice the second phase of negotiations against the UK.

Above all, I cannot reconcile the terms of the proposed deal with the promises we made to the country in our manifesto at the last election. This is, at its heart, a matter of public trust.

I appreciate that you disagree with my judgment on these issues. I have weighed very carefully the alternative courses of action which the government could take, on which I have previously advised. Ultimately, you deserve a Brexit Secretary who can make the case for the deal you are pursuing with conviction. I am only sorry, in good conscience, that I cannot.

My respect for you and the fortitude you have shown in difficult times, remains undimmed.</s>Dominic Raab has sensationally quit as Brexit Secretary, in a massive blow to Theresa May's Brexit plans.

Mr Raab, who only took over in the summer after David Davis resigned in protest over the Prime Minister's withdrawal strategy, said he "cannot in good conscience support the terms proposed for our deal with the EU".

His surprise departure on Thursday came amid a furious backlash from Brexit-backing Tories to the deal agreed by UK and EU negotiators four months ahead of the UK's scheduled withdrawal on March 29.

Hours earlier Shailesh Vara had quit as minister of state for Northern Ireland, saying Mrs May's agreement, "leaves the UK in a halfway house with no time limit on when we will finally be a sovereign nation".

The list of all those who have resigned over Brexit so far:

Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey has resigned, saying the Brexit deal "does not honour the result of the referendum".

She is the second Cabinet minister to quit this morning after Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab.

The extraordinary move is a calamitous hit to Theresa May that will hugely ramp up the risk of toppling her - and forcing a chaotic No Deal Brexit.

It comes after Ms McVey was reportedly "shouted down" when she tried to register her objection to the deal with a formal vote during last night's Cabinet.

Reports suggested she was left in tears.

Tweeting his letter of resignation, Mr Raab said: "Today, I have resigned as Brexit Secretary. I cannot in good conscience support the terms proposed for our deal with the EU. Here is my letter to the PM explaining my reasons, and my enduring respect for her."

Following the Brexit Secretary's resignation, former Ukip leader Nigel Farage tweeted: "Well done Dominic Raab, a few more and we will be rid of this duplicitous Prime Minister."

Here is Dominic Raab's letter of resignation

It has been an honour to serve in your government as Justice Minister, Housing Minister and Brexit Secretary.

I regret to say that, following the Cabinet meeting yesterday on the Brexit deal. I must resign. I understand why you have chosen to pursue the deal with the EU on the terms proposed, and I respect the different views held in good faith by all of our colleagues.

For my part, I cannot support the proposed deal for two reasons. First I believe that the regulatory regime proposed for Northern Ireland presents a very real threat to the integrity of the United Kingdom.

Second, I cannot support an indefinite backstop arrangement, where the EU holds a veto over our ability to exit. The terms of the backstop amount to a hybrid of the EU Customs Union and Single Market obligations. No democratic nation has ever signed up to be bound by such an extensive regime, imposed externally without any democratic control over the laws to be applied, nor the ability to decide to exit the arrangement. That arrangement is now also taken as the starting point for negotiating the Future Economic Partnership. If we accept that, it will severely prejudice the second phase of negotiations against the UK.

Above all, I cannot reconcile the terms of the proposed deal with the promises we made to the country in our manifesto at the last election. This is, at its heart, a matter of public trust.

I appreciate that you disagree with my judgment on these issues. I have weighed very carefully the alternative courses of action which the government could take, on which I have previously advised. Ultimately, you deserve a Brexit Secretary who can make the case for the deal you are pursuing with conviction. I am only sorry, in good conscience, that I cannot.

My respect for you and the fortitude you have shown in difficult times, remains undimmed.

Shailesh Vara quit as minister of state for Northern Ireland, saying he cannot support Mrs May's agreement, which he said "leaves the UK in a halfway house with no time limit on when we will finally be a sovereign nation".

His resignation came as European Council president Donald Tusk announced an extraordinary meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on November 25, at which the withdrawal agreement and a political declaration on future relations will be finalised and formalised.

Mr Vara's departure comes amid a furious backlash from Brexit-backing Tories to the deal agreed by UK and EU negotiators four months ahead of the UK's scheduled withdrawal on March 29.

Westminster was braced for further resignations, amid widespread expectations that the Prime Minister may face a challenge to her position from Conservative MPs submitting letters of no confidence in her leadership.

The Prime Minister cleared the first hurdle when Cabinet ministers finally approved the draft terms of her agreement with Brussels at a stormy five-hour meeting on Wednesday.

But she now faces a battle to get it through Parliament as pro-Leave Conservative MPs - as well as some Remainers - lined up to condemn the plan, accusing her of breaking promises and leaving the UK at the mercy of Brussels.

In a resignation statement, North-West Cambridgeshire MP Mr Vara - who was promoted by Mrs May as recently as July - said: "We are a proud nation and it is a say day when we are reduced to obeying rules made by other countries who have shown that they do not have our best interests at heart.

"We can and must do better than this. The people of the UK deserve better."

Mr Vara, a former Conservative vice chairman who has served as a whip and on the frontbenches for the bulk of his career since entering Parliament in 2005, backed Remain in the 2016 referendum.

Jo Johnson has signalled that more ministers may be poised to quit over Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plans.

Mr Johnson, whose bombshell resignation as transport minister took Westminster by surprise, said if other senior Tories followed suit, "good on them".

Calling for a second referendum to be held on Brexit, Mr Johnson denounced the choice between Mrs May's deal plans or a no-deal scenario as a "failure of British statecraft on a scale unseen since the Suez crisis" that had left Britain facing "vassalage" or "chaos".

David Davis resigned as Brexit Secretary in a major blow to Theresa May in July.

Mr Davis' exit may embolden Brexiteer backbenchers with concerns about Mrs May's leadership.

The move comes on the eve of a major test for the Prime Minister as she faces first the House of Commons and then a potentially stormy meeting of Tory MPs and peers on Monday.

The long-serving Conservative MP was among the new intake when Tony Blair's new Labour swept to power in 1997.

In the two decades since, the former SAS reservist has become an established figure within the party, challenging David Cameron to a 2005 leadership contest which the younger man went on to win.

He would become a key ally in Theresa May's embattled Cabinet.

The no-nonsense politician revelled in the description of being Britain's "Brexit bulldog", charged with leading negotiations with his EU counterpart over the country's withdrawal from the bloc.

He has been noted by former colleagues for his "tough, resilient" approach.

His role as Brexit Secretary was crucial to ensuring Britain leaves the EU next year with what Mrs May described as the "best possible deal".

Theresa May's long-standing rival Boris Johnson announced he was to quit as Foreign Secretary the day after Mr Davis.

Even before Mr Johnson stood down, Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said Theresa May has "no authority left" and called for an election "in the interests of the great majority of people in Scotland".

He said it would be a "change to change course".

"The Prime Minister is in office but not in power," he said. "This is not sustainable.

"The Tory crisis makes a Labour government with Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister a very real possibility."

Minister Steve Baker quit the same day as Mr Davis.

Referring to the Chequers proposal in his resignation letter, he wrote: "I cannot support this policy with the sincerity and resolve which will be necessary".

He quit the government to vote against it on an amendment tabled by Jacob Rees-Mogg.

The Aberconwy MP complained that "the Brexit that is being delivered today could not be further from what was promised".

He backed a so-called People's Vote, a second referendum on the final divorce terms.</s>Several ministers resign over Brexit deal: British PM May fights rebellion

LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May battled against a rebellion over her draft Brexit deal on Thursday, as ministers resigned and members of her own party plotted to oust her.

The Conservative leader, who was to hold a press conference at 1700 GMT, tried to defend the proposed agreement before a hostile parliament after four ministers, including Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, quit the government.

May insisted it was the best deal Britain could hope to strike when it leaves the European Union on March 29, warning that the only alternatives were leaving with no deal or not leaving at all. But members of parliament on all sides told her there was no way it could win their approval, with arch-Brexiteers and EU loyalists alike insisting it was already sunk.

Brexit hardliners see the deal as conceding too much to Brussels, while EU supporters are calling for a second referendum, or "people’s vote" on a final deal.

The 585-page draft aims to ensure a smooth divorce from the EU after more than four decades of membership and outlines a transition period for both sides to adjust to the break. Key provisions seek to avoid a hard border between EU member Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland, protect citizens’ rights and settle Britain’s last bill.

Amid the political turmoil, the pound dropped by more than 1.5 percent against the dollar to a one-month low and a similar amount against the euro. As May spoke, the European Research Group of Brexit hardliners met in a parliamentary committee room to plot her removal.

ERG chief Jacob Rees-Mogg submitted a letter of no-confidence in the prime minister saying: "It would be in the interest of the party and the country if she were to stand aside." At least 48 letters from Conservative MPs are required to trigger a vote of no-confidence in the party leader, but a majority of the party’s 315 lawmakers would have to vote against May in order for her to be ousted.

Although other MPs have already sent letters, all eyes were on Rees-Mogg given his influence over Brexit supporting MPs. The MP told reporters that a challenge could be launched within weeks.

"I think it can be done quite quickly," he said. "The parliamentary processes can be sped up," suggesting a time frame of "not months, but I think weeks". May went into battle after Raab resigned over the draft deal, while a second cabinet minister and two junior government ministers also walked out.

She faced a barrage of exceptionally hostile questions from MPs -- not only from the opposition but from her own Conservative backbenchers. "We can choose to leave with no deal, we can risk no Brexit at all or we can choose to unite and support the best deal that can be negotiated."

EU leaders will hold an extraordinary Brexit summit on November 25. If they approve the agreement, the British parliament is scheduled to vote on it in early December. Raab said there would be a devastating impact on public trust in the government unless it changed course on Brexit.

"I cannot reconcile the terms of the proposed deal with the promises we made to the country in our manifesto," he said in his resignation letter. Environment minister Michael Gove was the surprise favourite to replace Raab, according to the Daily Telegraph, but was reported to be demanding the chance to renegotiate the terms of the deal.

Brexit hardliner Esther McVey also quit her work and pensions secretary post. Suella Braverman resigned as a junior Brexit minister and Shailesh Vara quit as a junior Northern Ireland minister. In parliament, Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, told May: "The government must now withdraw this half-baked deal.

"This is not the deal the country was promised." May had secured her cabinet’s "collective" approval for the agreement during a five-hour meeting on Wednesday and European leaders hailed the tentative deal.</s>LONDON, Nov 16 — British shares suffered and sterling tumbled yesterday as the growing risk of a disorderly divorce from the European Union spooked investors, with leading index the FTSE 100 moving for most of the day in rare lockstep with the domestic currency.

The FTSE 100 eventually ended broadly flat, reversing the session's earlier 0.8 per cent fall, which came even as sterling dived after high-profile resignations thrust Prime Minister Theresa May's government into turmoil, just a day after she clinched a draft Brexit deal.

The FTSE 100, which makes 70 per cent of its income overseas, is normally boosted by a weaker pound, but losses in companies more exposed to the domestic economy, such as banks and housebuilders, almost offset gains in the big exporters. It ended up just 0.06 per cent.

The more domestically-exposed FTSE 250 fell 1.3 per cent, while the neighbouring Irish bourse fell 3.9 per cent, its worst daily performance since the Brexit referendum more than two years ago.

“It feels a bit like 24 June 2016, to a smaller degree, as anything that's a pure play on the UK economy is getting smashed today,” said David Keir, co-manager of the TB Saracen Global Income and Growth Fund in Edinburgh, referring to the day after Britain's vote on leaving the EU.

"People are fearful that this will lead to a hard Brexit and a general election which at the moment would lead to a Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) government, which would not be good for sterling or UK stocks," he added.

According to a Reuters analysis of data, the FTSE 100 and sterling have moved in tandem so far this week, the first time since September 29, underscoring deepening worries about the fall-out across Britain's financial markets and economy from the tumultuous negotiations for a Brexit deal.

The resignations of Brexit minister Dominic Raab and work and pensions minister Esther McVey in protest at May's draft deal for leaving the European Union pushed sterling down as much as 1.9 per cent against the US dollar.

Traders said uncertainty had increased, with possible scenarios now including a second referendum, a general election or a hard Brexit.

“There is a high risk that parliament fails to pass the withdrawal deal in December,” said David Page, senior economist for the UK and US at AXA Investment Managers.

“Uncertainty over the coming months is going to be high and the prospect of a disorderly exit in March is rising,” he added.

Shares in state-owned lender Royal Bank of Scotland sank 9.3 per cent, suffering their worst one-day loss since the June 2016 post-Brexit vote selloff, as shareholders priced in a higher risk of a general election.

The Labour party has pledged in its manifesto to break up the lender. The fall in its share price wiped 2.85 billion off the bank's market value.

Lloyds and Barclays fell 5 and 4.1 per cent respectively, also knocked by the heightened political uncertainty. HSBC, which has a big international presence, rose 2.1 per cent.

Housebuilders Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Berkeley Group fell between 6 and 7 per cent in their worst daily performance since the Brexit referendum. Barratt also lost more than 7 per cent. The four stocks shed a combined market cap of £1.6 billion (RM8.77 billion).

Some investors said the decline made the stocks look attractively cheap.

“Housebuilders are pricing in quite a lot of downside. The yield you can get probably pays back the share price within a matter of five years,” said Sue Noffke, UK equities fund manager at Schroders.

“You would have to see quite significant falls in both volumes and prices to undermine the valuation case.”

Retailers were also hit, with Marks & Spencer down 4.8 per cent and Next down 4.1 per cent.

Royal Mail shares made a U-turn from their positive open, trading down 6.5 per cent after first-half profit dropped about 25 per cent as costs weighed.

Shares in contractor Capita sank 14 per cent after the Financial Times reported it is in danger of losing a British public health service (NHS) contract after failing to send letters with cervical screening dates or test results.

A source later told Reuters that the contract, which it said is currently loss-making, was not being withdrawn.

Asset manager Intermediate Capital Group was a rare gainer on the mid-caps index, up 2.9 per cent after its results showed a 17 per cent increase in first-half assets thanks to strong inflows of new money from clients.

The FTSE 100's multinational exporters Unilever, Diageo, Reckitt Benckiser, and GSK were up by 0.7 to 2.7 per cent, boosted by the weaker pound.

Stronger mining stocks also helped limit losses, with Randgold Resources, Rio Tinto, Glencore, and BHP Billiton rising 2.1 to 4.8 per cent on hopes of a rapprochement between the US and China on trade. — Reuters</s>The Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey said the Brexit deal "does not honour the result of the referendum" in another major blow to Prime Minister Theresa May. She tweeted her resignation letter alongside the caption: "Earlier this morning I informed the Prime Minister I was resigning from her Cabinet." It comes just moments after the sensational resignations of Brexit Scretary Dominic Raab and the Northern Ireland minister Shailesh Vara.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon reacted to the news, tweeting: "I just hope that Esther McVey takes the travesty that is Universal Credit out the door with her." Addressing MPs in the House of Commons this morning, Mrs May appeared to pay tribute to Ms McVey and Mr Raab. She said: "Delivering Brexit involves difficult choices for all of us. We do not agree on all those choices, but I respect their views." READ MORE: Do you back Theresa May's Brexit deal?

Reports earlier suggested Ms McVey was "in tears" after she was "shouted down" in a tense showdown with Mrs May. She was reportedly “emotional” and “aggressive towards the Prime Minister” as she argued against the deal. In her resignation letter this morning, Esther McVey said: "It has been an honour to serve in your government as Justice Minister, Housing Minister and Brexit Secretary. “I regret to say that following the Cabinet meeting yesterday on the Brexit deal I must resign.

“I understand why you have chosen to pursue the deal with the EU on the terms proposed, and I respect the different views held in good faith by all of our colleagues. “For my part I cannot support the proposed deal for two reasons. First I believe that the regulatory regime proposed for Northern Ireland presents a very real threat to the integrity of the United Kingdom. “Second I cannot support an indefinite backstop arrangement, where the EU holds a veto over our ability to exit. The terms of the backstop amount to a hybrid of the EU Customs Union and Single Market obligations. “No democratic nation has ever signed up to be bound by such an extensive regime, imposed externally without any democratic control over the laws to be applied, nor the ability to decide to exit the arrangement.

“That arrangement is now also taken at the starting point for negotiating the future economic partnership. If we accept that, it will severely prejudice the second phase of negotiations against the UK. “Above all, I cannot reconcile the terms of the proposed deal with the promises we made to the country in our manifesto at the last election. This is, at its heart, a matter of public trust. “I appreciate that you disagree with my judgement on these issues. I have weighed very carefully the alternative courses of action which the government could take, on which I have previously advised. Ultimately you deserve a Brexit Secretary who can make the case for the deal you are pursuing with conviction. "I am only sorry, in good conscience, that I cannot.

“My respect for you, and the fortitude you have shown in difficult times, remains undimmed. “There is no more important task for this Government than delivering on the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union. This is a matter of trust. It is about the future of our country and the integrity of our democracy. “The deal you put before the Cabinet yesterday does not honour the result of the referendum. Indeed it doesn’t meet the tests you set from the outset of your premiership. “Repeatedly you have said that we must regain control of our money, our borders and our laws and develop our own independent trade policy.</s>EMBATTLED UK prime minister Theresa May has had a turbulent day of high profile ministerial resignations and backlash against the deal.

EMBATTLED UK prime minister Theresa May has had a turbulent day of high profile ministerial resignations and backlash against the deal.

Theresa May has turbulent day of high-profile resignations and backlash

It is reported that Mrs May has offered the job of Brexit secretary to Michael Gove - his decision is believed by many to be key to the survival of the Tory leader.

Today letters to the 1922 Committee have been pouring in seeking a 'no confidence' vote in Mrs May - there must be 48 to trigger such a vote.

Meanwhile, European Council President Donald Tusk has signalled that he still hopes Brexit can be averted but said the EU is prepared if there is a "no-deal scenario".

Speaking as chaos continues in Westminster over the proposed Withdrawal Agreement wiht the UK, Mr Tusk said the EU "is prepared for a final deal with the United Kingdom in November."

He also told reporters in Brussels that; "We are also prepared for a no-deal scenario but of course we are best prepared for a no-Brexit scenario."

After a days of resignations among her ministers, British Prime Minister Theresa May is due to give a press conference at 5pm.

Earlier, the British Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and three other ministers resigned over Theresa May's Brexit deal, in a massive blow to her plans.

Mr Raab, who only took over in the summer after David Davis resigned in protest over the British Prime Minister's withdrawal strategy, said he "cannot in good conscience support the terms proposed for our deal with the EU".

His surprise departure on Thursday came amid a furious backlash from Brexit-backing Conservatives to the deal agreed by UK and EU negotiators four months ahead of the UK's scheduled withdrawal on March 29.

Hours earlier Shailesh Vara had quit as minister of state for Northern Ireland, saying Mrs May's agreement, "leaves the UK in a halfway house with no time limit on when we will finally be a sovereign nation".

Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has handed in his letter of no-confidence to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, saying Ms May's Brexit deal "has turned out to be worse than anticipated and fails to meet the promises given to the nation by the Prime Minister".

In his letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Raab said the deal represented a "very real threat to the integrity of the United Kingdom" because of provisions for Northern Ireland.

He also said he could not accept "an indefinite backstop arrangement" for the Irish border.

He said: "No democratic nation has ever signed up to be bound by such an extensive regime, imposed externally without any democratic control over the laws to be applied, nor the ability to decide to exit the arrangement."

The work and pensions secretary Esther McVey has also stepped down on Thursday morning.

She said the Brexit deal “does not honour the result of the referendum”.

In a resignation letter posted on Twitter, Ms McVey cited concerns over the future of the Union and a lack of control over money, law, borders and trade policy under a deal she felt kept the UK too close to Brussels.

She wrote: "The British people have always been ahead of politicians on this issue, and it will be no good trying to pretend to them that this deal honours the result of the referendum when it is obvious to everyone that it doesn't.

"We have gone from no deal is better than a bad deal, to any deal is better than no deal.

"I cannot defend this, and I cannot vote for this deal. I could not look my constituents in the eye were I to do that.

"I therefore have no alternative but to resign from the Government."

Suella Braverman has also resigned as a Brexit minister, her office said.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan has resigned as a parliamentary private secretary in the Department for Education, saying she cannot support the Brexit deal after negotiations “built on the UK trying to appease the EU”.

Mr Raab added: "Above all, I cannot reconcile the terms of the proposed deal with the promises we made to the country in our manifesto at the last election.

"This is, at its heart, a matter of public trust."

Ms May is due to hold a press conference at 5pm.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney has said there may not be “a majority for any way forward in Westminster” as UK minsters resign over the Brexit deal.

Taking questions on the draft deal in the Dáil, Mr Coveney said it would “protect Ireland’s core interests now and into the future”.

He praised the work of Irish diplomats involved in the negotiations over the past two years, saying they did an “extraordinary job to build and maintain EU unity around many off the Irish vulnerabilities”.

And he said the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier had shown “extraordinary capacity to understand the detail” of the Irish concerns.

Asked by Fianna Fáil’s Darragh O’Brien about the instability in the UK government, Mr Coveney replied: “Of course there are challenges to selling any package in United Kingdom.

“Many people would say there isn’t a majority for any way forward in Westminister.”

But he added that British Prime Minister Theresa May has “shown a capacity to get things done in very difficult circumstances”.

Mr O’Brien questioned whether the Government had been too triumphalist in their public statements since the deal was published.

“The time for victory and celebration is when this draft agreement is ratified and satisfied by all,” he said, adding that “every statement being made in Ireland is being scrutinised”.

However, Mr Coveney rejected this claim. He argued that the Government had a duty to explain what was in the deal to the Irish people.

The Minister said he was giving “reassurance” to people who were “very sceptical that a deal could be done” to maintain open trade on this island.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Mrs May spoke by phone this morning, Independent.ie has learned.

It is understood Mr Varadkar offered the embattled PM his “support” amid a string of ministerial resignations in Westminster.

They pledged to “work together” on the future relationship between the UK and EU so that the Irish backstop “never needs to be invoked”.

Earlier, the Brexit deal that ensures no hard Border on this island was hailed as a major victory for Ireland.

While Mr Varadkar said Brexit is "something we regret", he insisted the best possible Withdrawal Agreement has been negotiated.

He said other EU members had taken on Irish concerns and helped protect the peace process, the common travel area and our economy.

"This is one of the better days in politics," he said.

Mr Varadkar praised Mrs May for being "true to her word" by ensuring there will be no hard Border.

Andrea Leadsom has insisted she has no plans to quit the Government and will support Theresa May in securing a Brexit deal.

The Commons Leader, who attends the UK Cabinet as part of her role, hit back after her SNP counterpart Pete Wishart joked she had upset his "Brexit resignation bingo coupon", adding: "I had her definitely down as a resigner."

Mrs Leadsom replied: "Normally I'm very happy to entertain (Mr Wishart's) banter but I think all he's done today is to demonstrate he's not very good at bingo."

She added: "I am staying in Government because there is more work to be done to get the Brexit that the Prime Minister wants to deliver to the people, and therefore I am determined to support her to do that.

"Now, him bantering about it and mocking it is all very well, but he doesn't suggest anything else and his party has form for ignoring the will of a referendum in Scotland that voted to stay in the United Kingdom.

"What are they doing sitting there? All they want to do is break up the United Kingdom, and against the will of Scottish fishers keep them in the Common Fisheries Policy. How much sense does that make?"

The pair's exchanges came at business questions and amid the backdrop of Cabinet resignations over Mrs May's draft Brexit withdrawal agreement.

However, there will now be major concerns that the ministerial resignations in London will be followed by more in the British Cabinet - meaning that any deal Brexit will once again be up in the air.

Representatives from the SDLP, Sinn Fein, Alliance and the Northern Ireland Green Party have arrived at the Department of the Taoiseach in Dublin for a meeting with Mr Varadkar to discuss the draft Brexit agreement.

SDLP leader Colm Eastwood said: "It will be a difficult few days for Theresa May but we need to focus on the positive and make sure the backstop is backed."

The resignations came as European Council president Donald Tusk announced an extraordinary meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on November 25, at which the withdrawal agreement and a political declaration on future relations will be finalised and formalised.

Westminster is braced for further resignations, amid widespread expectations that the British Prime Minister may face a challenge to her position from Conservative MPs submitting letters of no confidence in her leadership.

Mr Raab had been a surprise choice as Brexit Secretary when Mr Davis, along with foreign secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit minister Steve Baker, resigned in protest at Mrs May's Chequers plan in July.

As the UK's ministerial point man in negotiations he made repeated trips to Brussels for talks with EU negotiator Michel Barnier as he and civil servants tried to hammer out a workable withdrawal agreement.

The pound fell heavily against most major currencies after his resignation. Sterling dropped 1.1pc to 1.28 US dollars and was 1.2pc lower at 1.13 euros.

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Jon Trickett said the Government was "falling apart before our eyes as, for a second time, the Brexit Secretary has refused to back the Prime Minister's Brexit plan".

"This is the 20th minister to resign from Theresa May's Government in her two-year premiership," he said.

"Theresa May has no authority left and is clearly incapable of delivering a Brexit deal that commands even the support of her Cabinet, let alone Parliament and the people of our country."

Remain-supporting Tory MP Anna Soubry added on Twitter that Mr Raab's resignation "marks the end of PMs Withdrawal Agreement" and possibly her premiership.

Ms Soubry added: "No PM deserves to be so badly treated.

"Raab signed up to her Withdrawal Agreement allowing her to make her statement after Cabinet knowing he'd resign in time for the 9am News bulletins the next morning. Shameful."

Mrs May now faces a battle to get it through Parliament as pro-Leave Conservative MPs - as well as some Remainers - lined up to condemn the plan, accusing her of breaking promises and leaving the UK at the mercy of Brussels.

In a resignation statement, North-West Cambridgeshire MP Mr Vara - who was promoted by Mrs May as recently as July - said: "We are a proud nation and it is a say day when we are reduced to obeying rules made by other countries who have shown that they do not have our best interests at heart.

"We can and must do better than this. The people of the UK deserve better."

Mr Vara, a former Conservative vice chairman who has served as a whip and on the frontbenches for the bulk of his career since entering Parliament in 2005, backed Remain in the 2016 referendum.

In Brussels, Mr Tusk was handed a copy of the 585-page withdrawal agreement by EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier.

Ministers and ambassadors of the remaining 27 EU states will work to finalise by next Tuesday the political declaration on future relations with the UK, published in outline form on Wednesday, he said.

Welcoming the UK Cabinet's collective agreement to accept the withdrawal document, Mr Tusk said: "Of course, I do not share the Prime Minister's enthusiasm about Brexit as such.

"Since the very beginning, we have had no doubt that Brexit is a lose-lose situation and our negotiations are only about damage control."

And he sent a message to the British people: "As much as I am sad to see you leave, I will do everything to make this farewell the least painful possible, both for you and for us."</s>Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and Northern Ireland minister Shailesh Vara today announced their resignations, piling pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May over her Brexit withdrawal agreement with the EU. The pound reacted negatively against the euro off the back of the news, as stocks in Europe moved on the up this morning. As of 8:50 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up by 38 points, or 0.47 percent, to reach 7,066.77. The DAX in Germany had improved by 72 points, while the CAC 40 INDEX in France was on the up by 38 points.

In Italy, the FTSE MIB had increased by 40 points. Mr Raab said he could not support Mrs May as he refused to back "the regulatory regime proposed for Northern Ireland" or what he described as an "indefinite backstop arrangement". He said: “It has been an honour to serve in your government as Justice Minister, Housing Minister and Brexit Secretary. "I regret to say that following the Cabinet meeting yesterday on the Brexit deal I must resign.

“I understand why you have chosen to pursue the deal with the EU on the terms proposed, and I respect the different views held in good faith by all of our colleagues." Remainer Mr Vara declared “the people of the UK deserve better” as he refused to stand by the Prime Minister and support her negotiation. Mr Vara, the Tory MP for North West Cambridgeshire, said the Tory leader's plans "leave the UK in a halfway house with no time limit on when we will finally be a sovereign nation". In a statement posted on Twitter, he said: "We are a proud nation and it is a say day when we are reduced to obeying rules made by other countries who have shown that they do not have our best interests at heart.

"We can and must do better than this. The people of the UK deserve better." Posting an image of his resignation letter, he said: "With much sadness and regret I have submitted my letter of resignation as a Northern Ireland Minister to the Prime Minister. "A copy of my letter is attached. "It has been a joy and privilege to serve in the Northern Ireland Office and I will always cherish the fondest memories." The Prime Minister is due to give a statement on her Brexit plan to the House of Commons later today, after last night's staggering five-hour Cabinet meeting. It is reported that 11 ministers - one third of the Cabinet - spoke out against the plans. EU ambassadors would meet to share the assessments on the draft deal this week.</s>Prime Minister Theresa May battled on Thursday to save a draft divorce deal with the European Union after her Brexit secretary and other ministers quit in protest at an agreement they say will trap Britain in the bloc's orbit for years.Just over 12 hours after May announced that her team of top ministers had agreed to the terms of the draft agreement, Brexit minister Dominic Raab and work and pensions minister Esther McVey quit, saying they could not support it.Their departure, and the resignations of two junior ministers, shakes May's divided government and her Brexit strategy, raising the prospect of Britain leaving the EU without a deal. Some lawmakers in London openly questioned whether May's government will survive.Raab is the second Brexit secretary to quit over May's plans to leave the EU, the biggest shift in British policy in more than 40 years. By leaving now, some suggested that Raab could be positioning himself as a possible successor to May.But the prime minister showed little sign of backing down in parliament, where she warned lawmakers they now faced a stark decision."The choice is clear. We can choose to leave with no deal, we can risk no Brexit at all, or we can choose to unite and support the best deal that can be negotiated," she said.She acknowledged that hammering out an agreement with her cabinet was not "a comfortable process" but said those lawmakers who believed she could get a deal that did not include a backstop arrangement to prevent the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland were wrong.Sterling plunged, set for its second biggest drop this year on the opposition to the draft agreement.British financial regulators held a call with major banks asking for feedback on market conditions after the pound and financial stocks sank, sources said. One source said the call was a direct request from Bank of England Governor Mark Carney. The Bank of England declined to comment.In parliament, lawmakers from her Conservative Party and the opposition parties took turns to rubbish the draft deal, a sign May faces an all but impossible task to get the agreement through the House of Commons.Many criticised the draft deal, agreed with the EU on Tuesday, for making Britain a "vassal" state, beholden to the bloc's rules even after leaving in March next year.Others said an agreement on the so-called backstop would tear Britain apart, leaving Northern Ireland all but in the EU's single market.It took an hour of parliamentary questions before she was asked a friendly, rather than hostile, one, with a Conservative lawmaker saying May had done the best she could.It was the backstop arrangement, which would see Britain and the EU establishing a single customs territory, that spurred most of the criticism and the resignations of her senior ministers."I cannot reconcile the terms of the proposed deal with the promises we made to the country in our manifesto at the last election," Raab said.Less than five months until Britain leaves the EU on March 29, the resignations put May's Brexit strategy in doubt.EU leaders are ready to meet on Nov. 25 to sign off on the divorce deal, or Withdrawal Agreement, but French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe summed up the uncertainty when he said events in London raised concerns about whether it would be ratified."We need to prepare ourselves for a no-deal Brexit," he said.One eurosceptic lawmaker in May's Conservative Party said more colleagues were either putting in letters to trigger a no confidence vote in her leadership or were increasingly minded to do so. A challenge is triggered if 48 Conservatives write such letters. May could be toppled if 158 of her 315 lawmakers vote against her.Britain's opposition Labour Party said the government was "falling apart"."Theresa May has no authority left and is clearly incapable of delivering a Brexit deal that commands even the support of her cabinet, let alone parliament and the people of our country," said Jon Trickett, a member of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's senior team.Raab, 44, was appointed to the role of Brexit secretary in July after the resignation of his predecessor David Davis, who also quit in protest at May's Brexit strategy.At the heart of Raab's criticism of May's deal was the belief that the pursuit of a customs union with the EU would be the "starting point" for talks on the future relationship with the bloc, "severely prejudicing" what Britain could achieve.He said May's plan threatened the integrity of Britain and he could not support an indefinite backstop arrangement.The backstop arrangement, to come into force if a future trade deal does not prevent the return of a hard border between the British province of Northern Ireland and EU-member Ireland, has been the main obstacle to a deal with the bloc and agreement of her ministers.Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which props up May in parliament, had threatened to pull its support from the minority government if the backstop meant the province was treated differently from the rest of mainland Britain."No democratic nation has ever signed up to be bound by such an extensive regime, imposed externally without any democratic control over the laws to be applied, nor the ability to decide to exit the arrangement," Raab said in his resignation letter.Eurosceptics in May's party have long feared the prime minister was leading Britain towards a customs union with the EU, something that, they say, would mean a Brexit in name only.Ian Blackford, the Scottish National Party 's leader in the House of Commons, said the deal was "dead in the water".</s>THE UK’S JUNIOR minister for Northern Ireland has this morning resigned over the proposed Brexit deal.

Shailesh Vara submitted his resignation this morning. Vara was appointed Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office on 23 July 2018, having previously served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State .

In his letter to Theresa May, Vara said he could not stand by a deal which will effectively keep the UK in the customs union.

His letter stated: “Given the past performance of the EU, there is every possibility that the UK-EU trade deal that we seek will take years to conclude. We will be locked in an Customs Arrangement indefinitely, bound by rules determined by the EU over which we have no say.

“Worse, we will not be free to leave the Customs Union unilaterally if we wish to do so. Northern Ireland in the meantime will be subject to a different relationship with the EU from the rest of the UK and while I agree there should be no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, the economic and constitutional integrity of the the United Kingdom must be respected.”

The resignation came just minutes after president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, said that the EU will meet to finalise the Brexit deal with the UK on 25 November.

Speaking at an early morning press conference in Brussels, Tusk said that so long as “nothing extraordinary happens”, the EU Brexit summit will be held in 10 days time at 9.30am.



It emerged yesterday that UK Prime Minister Theresa May had secured Cabinet approval for the Brexit deal after being locked in hours of talks.
Minister of State for Northern Ireland Shailesh Vara, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union Dominic Raab, and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Esther McVey resign in protest of Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan.