Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

David Davis breaks his silence on his resignation

David Davis has broken his silence on his resignation. Unsurprisingly his comments on the Today programme are devastating for Theresa May’s Brexit strategy. The now-departed Brexit secretary said his position was no longer tenable because he simply didn’t believe in the PM’s approach. In his resignation letter last night, he had said that ‘that the national interest requires a Secretary of State in my Department that is an enthusiastic believer in the approach, and not merely a reluctant conscript’. He went further on the Today programme, calling the PM’s approach a ‘dangerous strategy’.

What is worrying for May is not only that Davis himself couldn’t get behind May’s approach but also that he likely spoke for many Brexiteers in voicing his fears that the plan set out at Chequers will be watered down by further concessions demanded by Brussels. Davis said:

‘I chose one approach, she proposed another which was more conciliatory to the European Union – I think that’s the best way to put it – and she believes that will deliver a better response from them.

Britain’s best politics newsletters

You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Comments

Join the debate, free for a month

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first month free.

Already a subscriber? Log in