The resignation of two British cabinet ministers are matters for UK Prime Minster Theresa May, a spokesperson for the Taoiseach has said.

The spokesperson made the comments following Boris Johnson’s resignation as UK Foreign Secretary.

His departure came within hours of Brexit Secretary David Davis quitting his post.

The senior ministers follows Mrs May’s announcement of an agreement over the UK government’s latest Brexit plan at Chequers.

While the Government welcomed Friday’s agreement, they said “a lot of work” remains, “particularly from the British side”.

“We welcome the fact that the British cabinet agreed collectively on detailed proposals for the future relationship between the European Union (EU) and Britain on Friday. And we look forward to seeing greater detail in the UK’s White Paper later this week,” the spokesperson said.

“There’s still a lot of work to do, particularly from the British side. Time is running out.

“The commitments the UK has already signed up to must be translated into the Withdrawal Agreement and we need to intensify efforts on all outstanding issues, especially the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland.”

Earlier on Monday, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed said that the focus of the Government is on Mrs May’s engagement with the EU and dismissed suggestions that Mr Davis’ exit from the cabinet will throw the Prime Minister’s latest plan into disarray.

“The fact there may be contrarian voices in the UK is nothing new, we have been listening to them all along,” he said.

“We are getting a white paper published in the coming days, the signals are that the direction of travel is significantly better.”

Fianna Fail’s Brexit spokesperson Lisa Chambers said the double resignation was of “grave concern” but urged the British Government to continue with its plan to publish the white paper this week.

“It is imperative that these resignations do not completely derail the strategy agreed on Friday in Chequers, the detail of which is due to be elaborated on in the white paper,” the TD said.

“The October deadline for agreeing a withdrawal agreement is fast approaching and the issue of the border remains unresolved.”</s>(LONDON) — The British government says Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has resigned, amid a widening split in the Cabinet over Brexit.

Prime Minister Theresa May’s office said May accepted the resignation on Monday and will announce a replacement soon.

A leader of the campaign to take Britain out of the European Union, Johnson was under pressure to act after the resignation of David Davis as Brexit secretary.

Davis quit late Sunday saying he could not support May’s plans for close trade and regulatory ties with the bloc after the U.K. leaves the European Union next year.</s>LONDON — A political crisis threatening Prime Minister Theresa May's government deepened Monday after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson resigned hours after Britain's top negotiator for the country’s exit from the European Union unexpectedly quit.

Both resignations came after May unveiled proposals for Britain's Brexit strategy, adding pressure for May to step down. She could also be ousted in a leadership challenge by her ruling Conservative Party.

The well-known, flamboyant Johnson and senior negotiator David Davis were leading figures in the 2016 referendum campaign in favor of Brexit, and both heavily favor a strong break — a "hard Brexit" — in trade ties with the EU.

May’s office said the prime minister accepted Johnson’s resignation and would soon name a replacement.

It comes as May plans to meet with world leaders at the NATO summit Wednesday and Thursday, followed by a Friday meeting with President Donald Trump in and around London.

The White House said Trump’s visit to London remains scheduled for Thursday and Friday despite the political turmoil. “The president continues to look forward to his working visit with the prime minister on July 13, and further strengthening the U.S.-U.K. special relationship,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.

Shortly after Johnson quit, May defended her Brexit plan, telling lawmakers in the House of Commons it was the "only way to avoid a hard border" between the United Kingdom's Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. Uncertainty over tariffs and immigration checks at the border has been a major stumbling block in negotiations between Britain and the EU.

Johnson's resignation came after he reportedly described May's plans for a "soft Brexit" that would preserve close trade ties with the 28-nation bloc to "polishing a turd."

"Luckily, we have some expert turd-polishers in this government," Johnson told May last week at a Brexit summit at Chequers, her country retreat, British media reported.

Davis resigned Sunday after claiming that May is undermining Brexit with her proposals for a "soft Brexit."

In his resignation letter, Davis cited irreconcilable differences with May over her plan to keep trade and customs similar to existing ones with the EU that "will leave us in at best a weak negotiating position, and possibly an inescapable one."

Dominic Raab, a Brexit supporter who was previously the housing minister, was named as Davis' replacement.

The moves by Johnson and Davis destabilize May's already fragile coalition government just days after the British leader announced she had finally united her fractious Cabinet behind a plan for a divorce deal with the EU.

Brexit is due to take place by March 2019. The EU has not signed off on any of May's latest proposals. In fact, the EU has repeatedly warned Britain that time is running out to seal a divorce deal.

British Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis departs Downing Street following a cabinet meeting in London, Britain, July 3, 2018.

"The mess caused by Brexit is the biggest problem in the history of EU-U.K. relations and it is still very far from being resolved, with or without Mr. Davis," European Council President Donald Tusk said Monday.

The resignations are a major blow to May because she was been trying to win over members of Parliament who are skeptical of her proposal that would keep Britain in a free-trade zone with the EU and avoid tariffs and border checks for goods. Davis was a strong voice who favored a clean break so Britain could strike new trade deals around the world.

May "has no authority left and is incapable of delivering Brexit," tweeted Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party. "With her government in chaos, if she clings on, it's clear she's more interested in hanging on for her own sake than serving the people of our country."

Britain needs to reach a Brexit deal with the EU before March 29, 2019, in order to establish trade, security, immigration and other ties with the bloc. If Britain fails to secure an agreement in time, tariffs would be imposed on U.K. goods exported to the EU, and vice versa, under World Trade Organization rules.

In theory, Britain would also have no legal obligation to contribute to the EU's budget, according to a parliamentary report. More worrisome are the residency and working rights of 3 million EU nationals in Britain that could suddenly end.

More: Airbus threatens to leave Britain in case of no-deal Brexit</s>(Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP, File). FILE- In this June 6, 2018 file photo, Britain's Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis delivers a speech in London, on Britain's vision for the future security relationship with the EU. Briti...

LONDON (AP) - British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson resigned Monday, adding to divisions over Brexit that threaten to tear apart Prime Minister Theresa May's government.

May's office said in a terse statement that the prime minister had accepted Johnson's resignation and would name a replacement soon.

Johnson, one of the best-known and most flamboyant members of the government, quit just hours after the resignation late Sunday of Brexit Secretary David Davis, the government's top Brexit official.

Davis said he could not support May's plan to maintain close trade and regulatory ties with the EU, which he said gave "too much away, too easily."

There was no immediate statement from Johnson, another loud pro-Brexit voice within May's divided government.

If Davis's resignation rattled May, Johnson's shook the foundations of her government.

The resignations came just days after May announced she had finally united her quarrelsome government behind her plan for a divorce deal with the EU.

Less than nine months remain until Britain leaves the bloc on March 29, 2019, and the EU has warned Britain repeatedly that time is running out to seal a divorce deal.

Britain and the EU hope to reach broad agreement by October so that EU national parliaments can ratify a deal before Britain leaves. That timetable looks increasingly optimistic, but European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said the EU was available "available 24/7."

Schinas said the bloc "will continue to negotiate in good will, bona fide, with Prime Minister Theresa May and the U.K. government negotiators in order to reach a deal."

Steve Baker, a junior Brexit minister also resigned. May appointed staunchly pro-Brexit lawmaker Dominic Raab as the country's new Brexit secretary.

Before Johnson quit, May's official spokesman, James Slack, said Britain wanted to "move forward at pace" in the negotiations.

"There is now a new secretary of state and we look forward to moving on," he said.

During a 12-hour meeting on Friday, May's fractious Cabinet - including Davis - finally agreed on a plan for future trade ties with the EU.

The plan seeks to keep the U.K. and the EU in a free-trade zone for goods, and commits Britain to maintaining the same rules as the bloc for goods and agricultural products.

Some Brexit-supporting lawmakers are angry at the proposals, saying they will keep Britain tethered to the bloc and unable to change its rules to strike new trade deals around the world.

In a resignation letter, Davis said the "'common rule book' policy hands control of large swathes of our economy to the EU and is certainly not returning control of our laws in any real sense."

Davis also said that May's plan "would be a risk at least of delivering a poor outcome."

His departure was hailed by pro-Brexit Conservative lawmakers, who have long considered May too prone to compromise with the EU. They believe the proposals breach several of the "red lines" the government has set out, including a commitment to leave the bloc's tariff-free customs union.

Some euroskeptic lawmakers dream of replacing May with a staunch Brexiteer, such as Johnson, who in the past has disagreed publicly with his boss.

Davis said he did not want his resignation to become a rallying cry for May's ouster.

"I like Theresa May, I think she's a good prime minister," Davis said.

Davis did not urge other ministers to resign, saying he was in a unique position because the Brexit secretary's job is to sell the government's policy.

"I'd have to deliver this. I'd have to do something I didn't believe in," he told the BBC. "That's not a tenable position. ... Others don't have that same responsibility."

Under Conservative Party rules, a confidence vote in a leader can be triggered if 48 Conservative lawmakers request one.

But leading pro-Brexit legislator Jacob Rees-Mogg said "I don't think a no-confidence vote is immediately in the offing." He urged May to abandon her plans and take a tougher line with Brussels.

"Friday's announcement was turning red lines into a white flag, and David Davis has made that so clear in his resignation letter," Rees-Mogg said.

Danica Kirka in London and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this story.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May’s strategy for leaving the European Union hung in the balance on Monday after two leading eurosceptic ministers resigned in protest at her plans to retain close EU ties after Brexit.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson decided to walk from his job just hours after May’s Brexit minister David Davis did the same. Instead of turning up at a conference of foreign ministers, Johnson instead held crisis talks at his official residence in central London for most of the day.

The two resignations leave May badly exposed at the top of a government unable to unite over Britain’s biggest foreign and trading policy shift in almost half a century.

It also puts a question mark over whether the leader will try to weather the resignations and stand firm in her commitment to pursue a “business friendly” Brexit, or will be faced with more challenges to her authority and calls to quit herself.

The pound fell from around $1.3340 to trade as low as $1.3259, down 0.2 percent the day, after Johnson’s resignation was announced.

Addressing parliament just minutes after her office announced that Johnson, the face of Brexit for many in Britain, had quit, May told lawmakers she appreciated the work of her two ministers.

She added with a hint of irony: “In the two years since the referendum, we have had a spirited national debate, with robust views echoing around the cabinet table as they have on breakfast tables up and down the country.”

“Over that time, I’ve listened to every possible idea and every possible version of Brexit. Mr Speaker, this is the right Brexit,” she said to jeers from the opposition Labour Party.

The departures raise the stakes for May, who believed that she had secured a hard-won agreement with her deeply divided cabinet of ministers on Friday to keep the closest possible trading ties with the EU.

But it soon began to unravel, when Davis resigned late on Sunday and launched a no-holds-barred attack on her plan, calling it “dangerous” and one which would give “too much away, too easily” to EU negotiators, who would simply ask for more.

With Johnson’s resignation, a noisy rebellion among the ranks could gather steam. Many Brexit campaigners in her Conservative Party say she has betrayed her promise to pursue a clean break with the EU.

But in parliament, her words suggested she had decided to face down the dissenters rather than changing her plans.

The EU has been keen to focus minds in Britain. European Council President Donald Tusk raised the idea that Brexit might be called off, writing on Twitter: “Politicians come and go but the problems they have created for people remain.”

“I can only regret that the idea of Brexit has not left with Davis and Johnson. But ... who knows?”

With less than nine months before Britain leaves and just over three before the EU says it wants a deal, May has been forced to show her cards that she will commit the country to pursuing the closest possible trading ties with the EU.

Her earlier reluctance to spell out her strategy was for fear of encouraging exactly this - angering one of the two factions in her Conservative Party that have sparred with each other since Britain voted to leave at a 2016 referendum.

Many eurosceptics accused her of siding with the “Remainers” in her cabinet - those who voted to stay in the EU and have been lobbying for a Brexit that would preserve the complicated supply chains used by many of Britain’s biggest companies.

But on the other side of the party divide, they feel that her words have not been matched by her deeds, proposing to negotiate a deal which could leave Britain still accepting EU rules and regulations without being able to influence them.

“I’m proud of both David Davis and Boris Johnson for standing by their principles,” Scottish Conservative lawmaker Ross Thomson said on Twitter.

“The decisions we take now will shape Britain’s relationship with the EU and the rest of the world for a generation. It’s imperative we do Brexit right, no half measures!”

Earlier May’s spokesman signaled that the prime minister would not back down over her agreed negotiating stance, saying May would now focus on moving the Brexit negotiations forward - a step EU officials and businesses have long called for.

“An agreement was reached by the cabinet on Friday and now we are moving forward to negotiate that plan,” May’s spokesman told reporters. “As the prime minister said ... we have set out our position and it is now the EU’s turn to move and that she wants the EU to get serious in these negotiations.”

But it is still not clear whether the EU will accept her negotiating bid on a free trade area for goods.

By also committing to ending free movement of people, the supremacy of the European court and “vast” payments to the bloc, May could be accused of “cherry-picking” the best bits of the EU by Brussels officials, who are determined to send a strong signal to other countries not to follow Britain out of the door.</s>Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis have both resigned.

And there's no obvious way of uniting her party when it comes to Brexit, on which different Tory MPs have very different views.

It's possible Theresa May will carry on as Prime Minister for a while longer.

But if she is forced to resign, who will replace her?

Assuming she quits before the next general election, the next Prime Minister will be another Conservative. That means they will be chosen by Tory MPs and party members.

Of course, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn might become Prime Minister before long, if Labour wins the next general election.

But it still seems likely that he won't be Prime Minister immediately after Theresa May.

Polling company YouGov has been asking Conservatives who they want as their next leader, and here are the results:

The most popular potential replacement for Theresa May is Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary and MP for Bromsgrove.

YouGov found 62 per cent of party members believed he would make a good leader.

Aged 48, he's the son of a bus driver from Rochdale.

Mr Javid would be the first Prime Minister representing a West Midlands seat since Anthony Eden, who represented Warwick and Leamington.

He would also be the first Asian Prime Minister and the first Prime Minister from a Muslim backround.

The leader of the Scottish Conservative Party is popular with members.

She's a liberal-minded centre-ground Tory who is having a baby with her same-sex partner. In the EU referendum she backed the remain campaign.

Ms Davidson comes across as likeable and more down-to-earth than some Conservatives.

YouGov found 61 of party members thought she would make a good leader.

The problem for the party is that she isn't actually an MP, and instead is a member of the Scottish Parliament. She'd need to be an MP before she could become Tory leader.

But he's extremely influential as chair of the European Research Group, which represents anti-EU Conservative MPs.

The Conservative MP has been called the “Honourable Member for the 18th century”, and some of his ideas do seem old-fashioned.

He’s got six children, but says he’s never changed a nappy because the family nanny does it instead.

He’s embraced Twitter but his first message to followers was in Latin, reading: “Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamur in illis”. It means: “the times change, and we change with them”.

And he once recited a 19th century poem in the House of Commons, somewhat to the annoyance of MPs who were trying to debate animal welfare.

The former Foreign Secretary would make a good leader according to 47 per cent of Tories.

But his role as one of the leaders of the "leave" campaign makes him a divisive figure.

For a long time, Conservatives thought Boris could reach the parts of the UK that other Tories could not. People liked him.

But he may not be as popular as he used to be.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is popular within the party.

And 49 per cent of members think he would make a good leader.

But he oversaw reforms to the NHS that made him very unpopular with some health service workers.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove has been Education Secretary and Justice Secretary.

He was a leader of the "leave" campaign in the EU referendum.

Nobody can deny that Mr Gove is smart. In person, he's extremely likeable.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, was a vital support for Mrs May in his former role as Chief Whip.

However, he is said to have upset some Conservative MPs.

It seems unlikely that Theresa May will stay on as Prime Minister until the next election.

But if she does, the country will face a choice between giving the Tories under her leadership another term in office - or making Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn the next Prime Minister.</s>Boris Johnson has quit as Foreign Secretary just hours after the resignation of Brexit secretary David Davis.

Downing Street confirmed the Prime Minister Theresa May accepted the resignation of the Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs as the government plunges further into turmoil over Brexit.

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."

Despite reports Boris Johnson had attended a Cobra briefing at the Cabinet Office, his security detail remained parked outside his official residence on Pall Mall by 2.30pm, having arrived just after 8am.

His security team included six police motorcade riders, along with a Land Rover and his official car and were left waiting on his driveway for most of the day.

Officers twice warned journalists the Foreign Secretary was about to leave, only to then say they had been told to stand by.

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, but has so far failed to appear.

David Davis has warned the UK is giving "too much away, too easily" in the exit talks, but backed Theresa May to remain Prime Minister after his dramatic resignation rocked her premiership.

How David Davis's resignation as Brexit secretary could topple Theresa May

The outgoing Brexit Secretary said the Government had gone further than it should have in the negotiations, in a "dangerous strategy".

His late-night resignation plunged Mrs May into a fresh leadership crisis and he was swiftly followed out of the Department for Exiting the EU by ally Steve Baker.

Staunch Eurosceptic Dominic Raab was appointed Mr Davis's successor as Brexit Secretary, in a swift move which scotched speculation that Mrs May might take direct charge of negotiations herself.

The 44-year-old Esher & Walton MP enters Cabinet for the first time, having previously served in more junior ministerial posts in the housing and justice departments.

Appearing on BBC Radio 4's Today programme just hours after his midnight resignation, Mr Davis said a leadership challenge would be the "wrong thing to do" and insisted he believed Mrs May was a "good prime minister".

Asked if she could survive, he replied: "Oh yes, of course."

Brexiteer Andrea Jenkyns said Mrs May's premiership was "over" but Jacob Rees-Mogg, who chairs the European Research Group of Eurosceptic Tory backbenchers, said he did not believe there would be an immediate challenge.

Downing Street insiders insisted Mr Davis had resigned over a difference of opinion rather than as part of a push against Mrs May, and said he had "done the honourable thing".

Mr Davis said he told the PM at Chequers that he was going to be the "odd man out in this" as the latest stage of the Brexit strategy was agreed.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today: "It seems to me we are giving too much away too easily and that's a dangerous strategy at this time.

"Hopefully we will resist very strongly any attempt to get any further concessions from us on this, because I think this goes further than we should have gone already."

Describing the plans as having a "number of weaknesses", he explained that it would "not have been plausible" for him to be "front and centre in delivering" it.

Mr Davis said he did not want others to follow him out of Government but added it was a "decision of conscience" that must be made "in their own minds".

He insisted a leadership challenge would be the "wrong thing to do" and ruled out standing against Mrs May.

Letters calling for a leadership contest have reportedly been submitted to the backbench 1922 Committee by some Conservatives over the weekend.

Mr Rees-Mogg urged the PM to drop the plan agreed at Chequers.

He told LBC radio: "I don't think a no-confidence vote is immediately in the offing.

"I think what the Prime Minister needs to do is give up on the Chequers proposals which, David Davis has pointed out in his resignation letter, don't actually deliver Brexit."

Senior Conservative Bernard Jenkin warned there had been a "massive haemorrhage of trust" as a result of the direction the PM was taking and said it "may well come" to a vote over her leadership.

Prominent Remain-supporting Conservative MP Anna Soubry said the Cabinet's Brexit plan was "far from perfect" but represented "grown-up steps".

Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of the CBI, said there had been "real rays of light" in the Cabinet agreement on Friday and described the resignation as a "blow".

The Prime Minister faces a stormy meeting with Tory MPs and peers in Parliament on Monday evening as she tries to win support for her plan, which includes an offer to Brussels to share a "common rulebook" on goods and form a new UK-EU free trade area.

In his resignation letter, Mr Davis said the policy "hands control of large swathes of our economy to the EU and is certainly not returning control of our laws in any real sense".

The responsibility for leading the negotiations should now go to an "enthusiastic believer in your approach, and not merely a reluctant conscript", he said.

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

The PM is expected to use a Commons statement to tell MPs that the strategy agreed on at Chequers is the "right Brexit" for Britain.

Brexiteer Cabinet minister Michael Gove admitted the Chequers' plan was not everything he had hoped for, but he was a "realist" and the Prime Minister's lack of a Commons majority meant the "Parliamentary arithmetic" was a factor in deciding what could be adopted.</s>British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson resigned Monday, adding to divisions over Brexit that threaten to tear apart Prime Minister Theresa May’s government.

May’s office said in a terse statement that the prime minister had accepted Johnson’s resignation and would name a replacement soon.

Johnson, one of the best-known and most flamboyant members of the government, quit just hours after the resignation late Sunday of Brexit Secretary David Davis, the government’s top Brexit official.

Davis said he could not support May’s plan to maintain close trade and regulatory ties with the EU, which he said gave “too much away, too easily.”

There was no immediate statement from Johnson, another loud pro-Brexit voice within May’s divided government.

If Davis’s resignation rattled May, Johnson’s shook the foundations of her government.

The resignations came just days after May announced she had finally united her quarrelsome government behind her plan for a divorce deal with the EU.

Less than nine months remain until Britain leaves the bloc on March 29, 2019, and the EU has warned Britain repeatedly that time is running out to seal a divorce deal.

Britain and the EU hope to reach broad agreement by October so that EU national parliaments can ratify a deal before Britain leaves. That timetable looks increasingly optimistic, but European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said the EU was available “available 24/7.”

Schinas said the bloc “will continue to negotiate in good will, bona fide, with Prime Minister Theresa May and the U.K. government negotiators in order to reach a deal.”

Steve Baker, a junior Brexit minister also resigned. May appointed staunchly pro-Brexit lawmaker Dominic Raab as the country’s new Brexit secretary.

Before Johnson quit, May’s official spokesman, James Slack, said Britain wanted to “move forward at pace” in the negotiations.

“There is now a new secretary of state and we look forward to moving on,” he said.

During a 12-hour meeting on Friday, May’s fractious Cabinet — including Davis — finally agreed on a plan for future trade ties with the EU.

The plan seeks to keep the U.K. and the EU in a free-trade zone for goods, and commits Britain to maintaining the same rules as the bloc for goods and agricultural products.

Some Brexit-supporting lawmakers are angry at the proposals, saying they will keep Britain tethered to the bloc and unable to change its rules to strike new trade deals around the world.

In a resignation letter, Davis said the “‘common rule book’ policy hands control of large swathes of our economy to the EU and is certainly not returning control of our laws in any real sense.”

Davis also said that May’s plan “would be a risk at least of delivering a poor outcome.”

His departure was hailed by pro-Brexit Conservative lawmakers, who have long considered May too prone to compromise with the EU. They believe the proposals breach several of the “red lines” the government has set out, including a commitment to leave the bloc’s tariff-free customs union.

Some euroskeptic lawmakers dream of replacing May with a staunch Brexiteer, such as Johnson, who in the past has disagreed publicly with his boss.

Davis said he did not want his resignation to become a rallying cry for May’s ouster.

“I like Theresa May, I think she’s a good prime minister,” Davis said.

Davis did not urge other ministers to resign, saying he was in a unique position because the Brexit secretary’s job is to sell the government’s policy.

“I’d have to deliver this. I’d have to do something I didn’t believe in,” he told the BBC. “That’s not a tenable position. … Others don’t have that same responsibility.”

Under Conservative Party rules, a confidence vote in a leader can be triggered if 48 Conservative lawmakers request one.

But leading pro-Brexit legislator Jacob Rees-Mogg said “I don’t think a no-confidence vote is immediately in the offing.” He urged May to abandon her plans and take a tougher line with Brussels.

“Friday’s announcement was turning red lines into a white flag, and David Davis has made that so clear in his resignation letter,” Rees-Mogg said.

Danica Kirka in London and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this story.

Follow the Bangor Daily News on Facebook for the latest Maine news.</s>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Council President Donald Tusk raised the idea that Brexit might be called off in a tweet on Monday after Boris Johnson, a campaigner for Britain to leave the EU, resigned as foreign secretary.

Echoing a comment he made to reporters after the earlier resignation of Brexit Secretary David Davis, Tusk tweeted: “Politicians come and go but the problems they have created for people remain. I can only regret that the idea of Brexit has not left with Davis and Johnson. But...who knows?”

Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, is overseeing the negotiations with London on its departure and has been highly critical of Brexit. He has said in the past that Britons would be welcome to change their minds and stay in the European Union.

Speaking to reporters earlier, Tusk said: “The mess caused by Brexit is the biggest problem in the history of the EU-UK relations and it is still very far from being solved, with or without Mr Davis.

“Unfortunately, the idea of Brexit has not left together with David Davis.”</s>LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said on Monday that Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan had his full support after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis quit within hours of each other.

May last week put forward a plan for a close trading relationship with the European Union after Britain leaves the bloc next year, triggering a split within her cabinet.

“Theresa May’s plan has my full support,” Hammond said on Twitter. “It’s a proposal that puts jobs first and protects our nation’s prosperity.”
Boris Johnson resigns as the United Kingdom's Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs amid disagreements with Prime Minister Theresa May over Brexit negotiations. Johnson is the second member of May's cabinet to resign in two days.