Dominic Raab has resigned as Brexit Secretary following yesterday’s cabinet meeting. This is a bigger blow to Theresa May and her hopes of passing a Brexit deal than the resignations of David Davis and Boris Johnson after Chequers. It now seems almost impossible that this deal can pass the Commons without wholesale Labour support. Indeed, that Raab listed Northern Ireland’s separate treatment as one of his reasons for quitting shows how unlikely it is that the DUP can be persuaded to back this deal. Confirming that, Nigel Dodds, the Westminster leader of the DUP, immediately praised Raab for ‘standing up for the Union’.
So, what happens now? Well, Raab’s resignation makes it more likely both that other cabinet ministers follow and that the 48 letters calling for a no confidence vote go in. It is still much more likely that May will win any confidence vote.
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