UK minister resigns as Theresa May faces Brexit crunch time

UK Justice Minister Phillip Lee today resigned over the British government's handling of Brexit, dealing a significant blow to Prime Minister Theresa May who is facing a crunch time in Parliament due to the EU Withdrawal Bill.

Lee stepped down from his ministerial post, saying Parliament was being sidelined and that he could not support "how our country's exit from the EU looks set to be delivered".

He announced his decision to resign hours before a key House of Commons clash in which May faces a challenge from many of her own Conservative Party MPs over how much say Parliament gets over the final Brexit deal.

The issue is likely to be the most important of 15 House of Lords amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill that the government hopes to overturn during debates in the Commons.

The EU Withdrawal Bill is the legislation aimed at ensuring the UK has a smooth transition out of the 27-member EU, and will mean EU law is no longer supreme in the UK.

Opening the debate on the bill today, Britain's minister for Exiting the European Union, David Davis, said a bid to give Parliament more control over Brexit would tie ministers' hands and lead to a bad deal for the UK.

He criticised the House of Lords amendment to the bill as an "unconstitutional shift which risks undermining our negotiations with the European Union".

He said: "We have listened wherever possible to sensible suggestions that have been made to improve the bill. But where amendments seek to, or inadvertently, undermine the essential purpose of the bill or the referendum result, we must reject them".

"This bill has a clear purpose, ensuring whole UK has a functioning statute book on exit day. We've listened to Lords amendments that seek to improve the bill, but must reject those that seek to disrupt the Bill or undermine the referendum result."