Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
Theresa May’s hopes of winning the backing of MPs for her Brexit deal have been dealt another huge blow as universities and science minister Sam Gyimah announced he was quitting.
In an article for The Daily Telegraph, Gyimah said he could not support an agreement which would hand sovereignty to Brussels, leaving Britain “poorer, less secure and weaker in the pursuit of our national interests”.
He becomes the seventh minister to resign from the Government since May unveiled the draft Withdrawal Agreement two weeks ago.
With scores of Tory MPs now publicly opposed to the deal, his departure highlighted the scale of the task the Prime Minister faces if she is to win the crunch vote in the Commons on December 11.
Like Jo Johnson, who quit as transport minister, Gyimah backed Remain in the referendum, underlining the fact that opposition to the deal comes from both the Leave and Remain wings of the party.
In his article, Gyimah said that if MPs were to support the agreement it would “set ourselves up for failure” by surrendering “our voice, our vote and our veto”.
“Britain will end up worse off, transformed from rule makers into rule takers. It is a democratic deficit and a loss of sovereignty the public will rightly never accept,” he said.
“It has become increasingly clear to me that the proposed deal is not in the British national interest, and that to vote for this deal is to set ourselves up for failure. We will be losing, not taking control of our national destiny.”
Downing Street confirmed that his letter had been received and said there would be a response “in due course”.
Earlier, May, in Argentina for the G20 summit, brushed off questions over whether she would resign if she was defeated in the Commons.
“I have been asked these sorts of questions before,” she…
