Prime Minister Theresa May came under yet more pressure today as another member of the government resigned.
Robert Courts, who succeeded former Prime Minister David Cameron as MP for Witney, said that he would resign in order to express his disapproval of the governments Brexit position.
Courts was a junior ministerial aide in the Foreign Office before his resignation, bringing the total number of departures from the government to eight since it revealed its white paper on the future relationship with the EU.
He said: “I have taken very difficult decision to resign position as PPS to express discontent with Chequers in votes tomorrow. I had to think who I wanted to see in the mirror for the rest of my life. I cannot tell the people of WOxon [West Oxfordshire] that I support the proposals in their current form.”
I have taken very difficult decision to resign position as PPS to express discontent with #Chequers in votes tomorrow. I had to think who I wanted to see in the mirror for the rest of my life. I cannot tell the people of WOxon that I support the proposals in their current form.
— Robert Courts MP (@robertcourts) July 15, 2018
The white paper, thrashed out at the Prime Ministers country residence, Chequers, has faced stiff opposition from Tory Eurosceptics, including resignations from former Brexit secretary David Davis and former foreign secretary Boris Johnson.
Courts departure was the second government departure of the weekend, after Andrew Griffiths resigned following an alleged sexting scandal.
Prime Minister Theresa May today tried to persuade her Conservative party colleagues to back her or risk Brexit not happening, as the threat of a leadership challenge from Eurosceptic MPs builds.
May said that rejection of the negotiating position she set out last week would “risk ending up with no Brexit at all”, and said MPs need to “just keep our eyes on the prize”.
Read more: Theresa May tells Conservative rebels to back her or lose Brexit
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