Alwaght- Britain’s Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd announced her resignation from the government and the ruling Conservative Party on Saturday to protest Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s handling of Brexit or his treatment of rebel Tories.
In a devastating resignation letter, she accused the prime minister of “an assault on decency and democracy” and “an act of political vandalism” for sacking 21 of her Tory colleagues for backing a parliamentary bill to stop a no-deal Brexit.
Rudd told Johnson she had joined his cabinet “in good faith accepting that no deal had to be on the table”. She added: “However, I no longer believe leaving with a deal is the government’s main objective.”
Johnson says he wants to take Britain out of the EU on Oct. 31 with or without a deal with the bloc. But he lost his parliamentary majority this week and expelled 21 lawmakers from his Conservative Party’s group in parliament after they supported an opposition plan to try to block a no-deal exit.
Referring to Johnson’s decision to withdraw the whip from rebel MPs, she said: “This short-sighted culling of my colleagues has stripped the party of broad-minded and dedicated Conservative MPs. I cannot support this act of political vandalism.”
Rudd’s decision follows the resignation from the cabinet of Johnson’s own brother, Jo Johnson, on Thursday and will place intense pressure on other cabinet members who are also against a no-deal Brexit, including Nicky Morgan, to follow suit.
Brexit remains up in the air more than three years after Britons voted to leave the EU. Options range from a turbulent no-deal exit to abandoning the whole endeavor.
The Sunday Times reported that at least six cabinet members share Rudd’s views, with at least one also considering resigning.
