Britain picks new Brexit minister

Britain’s new Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union Dominic Raab leaves 10 Downing Street after it was announced he was appointed to the job in London on July 9, 2018. AP

LONDON — Britain’s government has named former Housing Minister Dominic Raab to take up the post of senior official in charge of negotiating the country’s exit from the European Union, after his predecessor resigned.

Prime Minister Theresa May’s office announced the appointment in a Monday statement. Raab, a Brexit supporter, follows David Davis, who had accused May of undermining Brexit with her plan to keep close trade ties with the bloc.

Davis quit just two days after May announced she had finally united her quarrelsome government behind a plan for a divorce deal with the EU.

The European Parliament’s chief Brexit official is urging Britain to look beyond the departure of its chief negotiator and move forward quickly to clinch a deal with the EU.

Guy Verhofstadt said that “it is in the interest of the both that we move the negotiations forward.”

Verhofstadt hopes “the UK unites around a position to conclude a broad Association Agreement with the EU.”

In a blow to the British government, Davis quit late Sunday, saying he could not support Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan for close trade and regulatory ties with the EU after Brexit next year.

His resignation came just two days after May announced she had finally united her quarrelsome government behind a plan for a divorce deal with the EU.

Former Brexit Secretary David Davis says he won’t seek to challenge Prime Minister Theresa May’s leadership after resigning from her Cabinet, but that he will pressure her to toughen her position on Britain’s departure from the European Union.

Davis says he resigned because he didn’t feel he best suited to carry the divorce deal forward, telling the BBC Monday that he doesn’t want his resignation to become a rallying cry for May’s ouster. He says “I like Theresa May, I think she’s a good prime minister.”

But he says they had a difference of strategy and hoped the decision would send a signal to the EU not to push Britain any further in Brexit negotiations.

Davis’s late-night resignation undermined May’s already fragile government, which has lost several ministers this year. /ee