Updated November 16, 2018 02:47:40

Photo: Dominic Raab has resigned as Brexit Minister following Theresa May's draft deal with the EU. (AP: Matt Dunham)

Two British Cabinet ministers, including Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, have resigned over Prime Minister Theresa May's draft deal for leaving the European Union, while at least two Brexiteers have submitted letters of no-confidence in the UK leader.

In a statement on Twitter, Mr Raab said: "I regret to say that, following the Cabinet meeting yesterday on the Brexit deal, I must resign".

Works and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey, Brexit Under-Secretary Suella Braverman, junior Northern Ireland Minister Shailesh Vara and junior Education Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan also submitted their resignations.

Ranil Jayawardena, the parliamentary private secretary to the Ministry of Justice, and Conservative Party Vice Chairman Rehman Chishti later followed suit.

The resignations, less than a day after the Cabinet collectively backed the draft divorce agreement, weaken Ms May and are likely to embolden her rivals within her Conservative Party. A leadership challenge is being discussed openly.

Mr Raab, who said Ms May's plan threatened the integrity of the United Kingdom, became the second UK Brexit minister to resign in six months, with his predecessor David Davis having quit in July in protest against Ms May's Brexit strategy.

British environment secretary and prominent Brexiteer Michael Gove has turned down the chance to replace Mr Raab as Brexit secretary, according to the London Evening Standard newspaper, which is edited by former Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne.

Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, a powerful Eurosceptic, has submitted a letter of no confidence in Ms May, as have backbenchers Henry Smith and Sheryll Murray.

Mr Rees-Mogg said the number of letters was growing and had been issued by some unexpected people.

A challenge would be triggered if 48 Conservatives write such letters. Ms May could be toppled if 158 of her 315 politicians vote against her.

A leadership challenge could be completed in weeks, Mr Rees-Mogg said.

"I think it can be done quite quickly. I think the parliamentary processes can be sped up," he told reporters, adding "not months, but I think weeks" when asked about a timeframe.

He named former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, Mr Davis, Ms McVey and Mr Raab as possible future leaders, as well as Secretary of State for International Development and Minister for Women Penny Mordaunt, who was widely rumoured to be considering her Cabinet position.

Brexiteer politicians say the agreement, which calls for close trade ties between the UK and the bloc, would leave Britain a vassal state, bound to EU rules that it has no say in making.

Ms May made some major concessions to the EU to achieve the deal — for example, Britain will remain tied to the customs union during the transition period and potentially for much longer.

Mr Raab said the agreement was unacceptable, and that "no democratic nation has ever signed up to be bound by such an extensive regime".

He said Ms May's deal went against the Conservatives' election promises.

"I cannot reconcile the terms of the proposed deal with the promises we made to the country in our manifesto at the last election," he said.

"This is, at its heart, a matter of public trust."

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Ms McVey said the Brexit deal "does not honour the result of the [2016] referendum".

The pound fell sharply on the news, dropping 1.5 per cent — a relatively large decline for an established currency.

Brexit plan still needs Parliament's approval

Addressing Parliament after the flurry of ministerial resignations, Ms May defended her besieged divorce deal, saying she had made "the right choices, not the easy ones".

Her spokesman told journalists that she would fight for her premiership in the event of a no-confidence motion.

"The choice is clear," Ms May told politicians.

"We can choose to leave with no deal. We can risk no Brexit at all. Or we can choose to unite and support the best deal that can be negotiated — this deal."

She told politicians that they would get a vote on the deal before the UK leaves the bloc, and she would ask them to back it "in the national interest".

The deal, 585 pages long and agreed to by Cabinet, will now need to pass the Parliament, where it will face a tough opposition from Labour and rebel Conservatives alike.

But British Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn said Ms May must withdraw her "half-baked" Brexit deal with the EU or Parliament will reject it.

Photo: Brexit has divided Britain between those who want to stay and those who want to leave the EU. (Reuters: Simon Dawson)

The Labour Party leader also said Parliament "cannot and will not accept a false choice between this deal and no deal, signalling that Labour would oppose it if it comes to a vote in Parliament.

The draft agreement includes a solution to the so-called backstop to prevent a return to a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

The main obstacle to a withdrawal agreement has long been how to ensure there were no customs posts or other checks along the border between the UK's Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland after Brexit.

Britain and the EU agree there must be no barriers that could disrupt businesses and residents on either side of the border and undermine Northern Ireland's hard-won peace process.

"When you strip away the detail, the choice before us is clear — this deal, which delivers on the vote of the referendum, which brings back control of our money, laws, and borders, ends free movement, protects jobs, security, and our union, or leave with no deal, or no Brexit at all," Ms May said.

European Union leaders will meet on November 25 to endorse the divorce deal.

Opposition spokesman Jon Tricket, a member of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's senior team, said Mr Raab's resignation showed Ms May "has no authority left".

"The Government is falling apart before our eyes as for a second time the Brexit secretary has refused to back the Prime Minister's Brexit plan," Mr Tricket said.

"This is the 20th minister to resign from Theresa May's Government in her two-year premiership.

"Theresa May has no authority left and is clearly incapable of delivering a Brexit deal that commands even the support of her Cabinet — let alone Parliament and the people of our country."

AP/Reuters

Topics: world-politics, government-and-politics, united-kingdom

First posted November 15, 2018 20:07:46