Chris Heaton-Harris: Brexit minister resigns in protest at Theresa May extending Article 50

Brexiteer alleges civil servants are misleading prime minister about the dangers of a crash-out departure

Rob Merrick
Deputy Political Editor
Wednesday 03 April 2019 17:07 BST
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Could the Brexit chaos result in another general election?

Chris Heaton-Harris has become the second minister to resign in protest at Theresa May opening Brexit talks with Jeremy Corbyn, saying his own job was now “irrelevant”.

The former Brexit minister said he could not accept any further delay to EU withdrawal, criticising Ms May for not embracing a no-deal departure instead.

The Department for Exiting the European Union is in charge of preparing for a crash-out Brexit – which the prime minister has now appeared to take off the table.

“These preparations are well advanced and, whilst I would have preferred to leave the European Union with your deal, I truly believe our country would have swiftly overcome any immediate issues of leaving without a deal and gone on to thrive,” Mr Heaton-Harris wrote.

The Brexiteer said the UK should have “honoured the result of the 2016 referendum” and left on 29 March.

“Every time we seek an extension to this process we diminish faith in our political system and the good people, from all political parties, who serve within it,” Mr Heaton-Harris added.

“I simply cannot support any further extension to Article 50 and this obviously means I cannot stay in government.”

This week, Britain’s top civil servant issued a doomsday warning about the impact of a no-deal Brexit, highlighting the risk of a recession, bankruptcies and soaring food prices.

But, controversially, Mr Heaton-Harris alleged that the prime minister was being misled about the dangers, without naming any culprits.

He wrote: “Unfortunately, I do not believe the briefings you have received on these matters recently have reflected all they [civil servants] have achieved or the preparations our European partners have made.

“However, I completely understand you do not want to leave the European Union without a negotiated deal and that obviously makes my job in government irrelevant.”

Incredibly, the walkout is the eighth from the department since it was set up less than three years ago to drive through Brexit, including two secretaries of state – David Davis and Dominic Raab.

It came just hours after Nigel Adams, a Wales minister, quit, accusing Ms May of making the “calamity of a Corbyn government” more likely.

In a stinging letter, Mr Adams said Ms May faced two “great challenges”, to “deliver the Brexit the people voted for” and to prevent Mr Corbyn entering No 10. “Sadly, I fear that we are in danger of simultaneously failing in both,” he wrote.

No cabinet resignations have followed the marathon seven-and-a-half-hour meeting yesterday, which ended with Ms May making her dramatic request to Labour.

It is expected that the fiercest opponents – defence secretary Gavin Williamson, Liz Truss, the Treasury chief secretary, and Andrea Leadsom, the Commons leader – will wait to see what results from the talks.

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