David Davis ‘considering resigning after Michael Gove and Boris Johnson Brexit letter’
2 min read
David Davis is reportedly considering resigning after being kept in the dark about Boris Johnson and Michael Gove’s secret Brexit letter.
The memo from the Foreign Secretary and the Environment Secretary, revealed in last week's Mail on Sunday, set out the pair's vision for Brexit and contained veiled criticisms of Cabinet colleagues' approach.
It emerged today the missive, which says post-Brexit transition arrangements must end on 30 June 2021, also called for Mr Davis to be sidelined by an unelected 'Brexit tsar'.
The release of the sensational letter, which stated "for your and Gavin’s eyes only" at the top of the page – referring to former MP and now Number 10 Chief-of-Staff Gavin Barwell – was described as a “soft coup” attempt last week.
The paper reported today friends of Mr Davis have described him as “deeply frustrated” that Mr Gove and Mr Johnson went behind his back. No 10 also failed to deny that Mr Davis has still not been shown a copy of their words.
According to the paper, the full letter urges Theresa May to prepare for a no deal scenario after a “total breakdown” of talks with the EU.
The 2,500 word document also suggests the Prime Minister should force all Cabinet Ministers to “submit to a process” to demonstrate they are committed to a hard Brexit, by recruiting thousands of extra customs and immigration officers.
"We may not be able to reach agreement on the final deal during the implementation period or even know by March 2019 if an agreement is going to be possible or not," the letter read.
"The worst case is a total breakdown in March 2019, but even if we avoid that we may still have a “no-deal” outcome at the end of the transition period."
"We are most concerned about customs rules where the UK must be in a position to charge import duties and conduct checks on EU goods. This will require upgrading facilities at ports and recruiting thousands of customs officers. Similarly, we must arrange to implement immigration controls in the event of no deal."
A spokesman for Mr Davis said: "It is completely wrong that he is considering resigning and anyone pushing this nonsense in order to undermine Brexit is going to be sorely disappointed."
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