Five British ministers may leave office amid Brexit

Five UK cabinet ministers may leave their posts amid a growing threat of the country leaving the EU without a deal on Brexit conditions. This was reported on Wednesday by The Times, citing unnamed members of the British Cabinet.

According to them, we are talking about the Minister of Northern Ireland Julian Smith, the Minister of Digital Technology, Culture, Media and Sports Nicky Morgan, the Minister of Justice Robert Buckland, the Minister of Health and Social Affairs Matt Hancock and the Attorney General of England and Wales, Jeffrey Cox. The question of their resignation, the source said, emerged after a meeting of the Cabinet, at which the ministers told Prime Minister Boris Johnson that there was a serious risk of undermining the 1998 Belfast Agreement, which put an end to the long-standing conflict in Northern Ireland, and also expressed their concerns about the chief adviser Johnson Dominic Cummings.

Another member of the British cabinet told The Times that “a very large number of lawmakers will leave the Tory party if Johnson considers Britain’s option to leave the EU without a deal as the basis for his strategy in the general election.” Conservatives argued, the newspaper said, that it would be “very difficult” for them to remain in the government, which is set to Brexit without concluding a deal on the conditions for the country’s exit from the EU.

The United Kingdom was due to leave the EU on March 29, 2019, that is, two years after a written notice of leaving the community. However, members of the House of Commons of the British Parliament three times rejected the draft agreement on the conditions of Brexit, reached between Brussels and the government of Prime Minister Theresa May. As a result, the EU agreed to postpone Brexit, first to April or May, then to October 31, and May was forced to resign, failing to break the deadlock. Johnson, who replaced her, insists that the country will not ask Brussels for new postponements and must leave the European Union no later than October 31 with or without a deal.

On Tuesday, the BBC Broadcasting Corporation, citing a representative of Johnson, said that German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected the British Prime Minister’s new proposals on the Northern Irish border. After that, London called the deal with the EU “essentially impossible.”

Johnson later held a meeting with European Parliament President David Sassoli, at which he expressed his commitment to Britain’s exit from the EU with a deal and noted that his proposal for Brexit was a significant compromise. At the same time, Sassoli, following a conversation with Johnson, said there was no progress in the negotiations on Brexit.