Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1003259
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 11 JULY 2018 4 NEWS THERESA May launched a re- shuffle of her top team after a string of resignations over her Brexit strategy plan including those of Boris Johnson, Brexit Secretary David Davis, and sev- eral junior figures resigned. Jeremy Hunt has been named as foreign secretary to replace Boris Johnson after he resigned on Monday. Matt Hancock, the culture secretary, was appointed as Hunt's successor at health, while Jeremy Wright, the at- torney general, is to become culture secretary. The Tory MP, Geoffrey Cox, was later named as the new at- torney general. In his first comments as foreign secretary, Hunt said he would be standing "four square" behind the Prime Minister "so that we can get through an agreement with the European Union based on what was agreed by the Cabi- net last week at Chequers." The UK is due to leave the European Union on 29 March 2019, but the two sides have yet to agree how trade will work between the UK and the EU afterwards. The delay has been partly blamed on deep disagree- ments within the Conserva- tive Party over what shape Brexit should take. Two ministers resign in 24 hours Boris Johnson and David Da- vis resigned on Monday, say- ing they couldn't get behind May's Brexit plans. Johnson's resignation fol- lows that of Brexit secretary, David Davis, and Department for Exiting the EU minister, Steve Baker. A Downing Street spokes- man said: "This afternoon, the Prime Minister accepted the resignation of Boris Johnson as foreign secretary. His re- placement will be announced shortly. The Prime Minister thanks Boris for his work." The Prime Minister dis- cussed a compromise with her divided cabinet in an all-day meeting at Chequers last Fri- day, but the ministers, includ- ing Johnson, decided not to back May up. After the summit, it emerged that Johnson had referred to attempts to sell the Prime Minister's Brexit plan as 'pol- ishing a turd'. Nigel Farage tweeted, con- gratulating Johnson on his resignation. "Now can we please get rid of the appalling Theresa May and get Brexit back on track," Farage said. In his resignation letter, Johnson said that May's pro- posals for post-Brexit trade would leave Britain a "colony" of the EU. The Brexit "dream is dying, suffocated by needless self- doubt", he said. Instead, "we appear to be heading for a semi-Brexit, with large parts of the econo- my still locked in the EU sys- tem, but with no UK control over that system.|" May said she was "sorry - and a little surprised" by Johnson's move after his apparent sup- port on Friday. The President of the Euro- pean Council, Donald Tusk, also tweeted about the news. "Politicians come and go but the problems they have cre- ated for people remain," Tusk said. Earlier, it was announced that Housing minister, Domi- nic Raab, would be replacing David Davis as the UK's Brexit minister following his resig- nation yesterday. In a statement, Downing Street said: "The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of Dominic Raab MP as Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union. This follows the departure from Government of the Rt Hon David Davis MP." Davis wrote to the Prime Minister Theresa May yester- day, informing her of his deci- sion to resign, citing concerns with the direction being taken by the UK over Brexit. In his resignation letter, Da- vid criticised the PM's Brexit plan, saying it would leave Parliament with "at best, a weak negotiating position'. Davis has told friends he cannot live with the soft Brexit stance agreed between ministers on Friday, which proposes a "UK-EU free trade area", governed by a "common rule book". Replying to his resignation, May said she did not agree but thanked him for his work. She said she was "sorry" he was leaving but would "like to thank you warmly for eve- rything you have done... to shape our departure from the EU." Davis' resignation was swift- ly followed by that of fellow Department for Exiting the EU ministers Steve Baker and Suella Braverman. This will force Theresa May to reshuf- fle her government while try- ing to convince backbenchers to support her plan. In his letter, Davis told May that "the current trend of pol- icy and tactics" was making it "look less and less likely" that the UK would leave the cus- toms union and single market. Doubts on whether Brexit deal can be finalised following ministers' resignation The resignations "open a Pan- dora's box" for the UK as it tries to negotiate its exit from the European Union, local politi- cians and European Union ex- perts have told MaltaToday. Parliamentary Secretary for EU funds, Aaron Farrugia, said that beyond the personality politics involved, the real issue was the attainment of results, and whether the Brexit deal ul- timately goes through. "I became aware of the dy- namic in the past few weeks: Davis was in a position in which he could either counter May's plans, or leave," Farrugia said, noting that the resignation did not catch him totally by sur- prise. He said the concern now was whether May would have the numbers in Parliament to al- low negotiations to be finalised. The UK government said ear- lier this year that there will be a "meaningful vote" in the House of Commons on the Brexit deal negotiated with the European Union. Farrugia said that while Da- vis was in charge of the nego- tiations, May had been taking more of a lead in plotting the way forward. "Does she command the nec- essary majority in the House of Commons in order to finalise the deal? That is my only con- cern," he said. "If she does maintain the ma- jority, the deal will go through. But if not… it's a Pandora's box." Farrugia's concerns were ech- oed by Vanni Xuereb, head of the Malta-EU Steering Action Theresa May faces reshuffle as senior ministers resign UK Brexit woes Boris Johnson