A lawmaker, who helped enforce discipline in Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party, quit his role on Monday over her Brexit deal with the European Union, which faces a crucial vote in parliament on Tuesday.
“Over the last few weeks, I have tried to reconcile my duties as a Whip to assist the Government to implement the European Withdrawal Agreement, with my own personal objection to the agreement,” Gareth Johnson wrote in a resignation letter to May.
“I have concluded that I cannot, in all conscience, support the Government’s position when it is clear this deal would be detrimental to our nation’s interests.”
The fate of the United Kingdom’s March 29 exit from the EU is deeply uncertain as parliament is likely to vote down May’s deal on Tuesday evening, opening up outcomes ranging from a disorderly divorce to reversing Brexit altogether.
— With a file from the Associated Press