Theresa May hit by more Tory resignations and warning of 'Prime Minister Corbyn'

Theresa May has been hit by more resignations over her Brexit policy, as two Conservative vice-chairs quit over their opposition to her plans for Britain's future relations with the EU.

Ben Bradley and Maria Caulfield warned that Mrs May's plans for close links with Europe after Brexit risked handing Jeremy Corbyn the keys to 10 Downing Street.

Their resignations came after the Prime Minister chaired the first meeting of her new Cabinet following the departure of Boris Johnson and David Davis.

They were announced less than an hour before Mrs May was due to face the press alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel at an international summit in London.

Maria Caulfield
Maria Caulfield

In her resignation letter, Ms Caulfield warned that Mrs May's policy "may assuage vested interests, but the voters will find out and their representatives will be found out".

"This policy will be bad for our country and bad for the party," said the Lewes MP. "The direct consequences of that will be Prime Minister Corbyn."

Ben Bradley
Ben Bradley

Mr Bradley said that the Brexit plan agreed by the Cabinet last week at Chequers would damage the UK's opportunities to develop global trade and be "an outward-looking nation in control of our own destiny" following Brexit.

"Being tied to EU regulations and the EU tying our hands when seeking to make new trade agreements will be the worst of all worlds," wrote the Mansfield MP, who voted remain in a constituency where more than 70% of voters opted to leave.

"If we do not deliver Brexit in spirit as well as in name, then we are handing Jeremy Corbyn the keys to Number 10."

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