British Prime Minister Theresa May suffered a huge blow on Thursday as Dominic Raab quit as her Brexit secretary over a proposed EU withdrawal agreement.
May was preparing to start selling her Brexit deal to parliament, boosted by news that Europe is preparing a rapid summit to sign off on the agreement.
However, the ground began to shift beneath her when Raab said he could not back the draft deal.
“I cannot reconcile the terms of the proposed deal with the promises we made to the country in our manifesto,” he said.
“You deserve a Brexit secretary who can make the case for the deal you are pursuing with conviction.
“I must resign.”
Raab, who had been in place since July, resigned less than an hour after Shailesh Vara quit as a junior Northern Ireland minister over the draft accord.
The pound sterling has lost nearly 1% of its value against the dollar following Raab’s resignation, wiping out gains since Tuesday as the draft agreement emerged.
By 0900 GMT, the pound stood at around $1.2870, compared to $1.2992 at 2200 GMT on Wednesday.
May had assurance of her cabinet’s collective approval for the agreement during a five-hour meeting on Wednesday, an important step that helped ease fears in the business community.
She was expected to outline the terms of the draft withdrawal agreement with the European Union to parliament’s lower House of Commons, which must approve the deal before Brexit day on March 29.
