Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May today appointed Dominic Raab, a staunchly pro-Brexit lawmaker, to replace David Davis as the most senior official in charge of negotiating Britain's exit from the European Union.
Davis quit late Sunday, saying he could not support May's plan to maintain close trade and regulatory ties with the EU, commonly known as a "soft Brexit", after the departure takes place next year.
The junior Brexit minister Steve Baker also resigned, Downing Street confirmed today. The resignations dealt yet another blow to the beleaguered leader, just two days after she announced she had finally united her quarrelsome government behind her plan for a divorce deal with the EU.
Davis today said that he believed Britain was "giving too much away, too easily" in the exit talks, saying that May's plan "would be a risk at least of delivering a poor outcome".
Davis departure was hailed by pro-Brexit Conservative lawmakers, who have long considered May too prone to compromise with the EU. Some want to use his resignation as a springboard for a leadership challenge, but Davis said he did not want it 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."
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