24 May,2019 10:11 AM IST | | Agencies
Theresa May
Theresa May is continuing to face pressure from her own MPs to resign after one of her senior ministers quit the cabinet. The Leader of the House, Andrea Leadsom, stepped down on Wednesday night over the PM's Brexit policy.
Several cabinet ministers have also said that the PM cannot stay in her post. May said she was "sorry to lose someone of passion, drive and sincerity".
Leadsom said May's new Brexit plan had "elements I cannot support, that aren't Brexit". The minister had been due to appear in the House of Commons on Thursday to give a business statement to MPs.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Leadsom said she did not believe "the UK would be truly sovereign through the deal that is now proposed".
She also described holding another referendum as "dangerously divisive", and said she was opposed to the government "willingly facilitating such a concession".
May has offered MPs a chance to hold a vote on another referendum if they back her Withdrawal Agreement Bill to implement the agreement between the UK and EU on the terms of Brexit.
Leadsom was set to announce when the Prime Minister's Withdrawal Agreement Bill would be introduced to the Parliament.
Populists are hoping to cause upsets across the EU as the European Parliament elections got under way on Thursday in polls that could challenge the Brussels consensus. Britain and the Netherlands kicked off four days of voting across the continent in all 28 EU members with more than 400 million voters.
The British government on Thursday postponed a crucial Brexit vote scheduled for the first week of June, following an outcry from hardline Brexiteers over concessions made by May. The beleaguered premier is in the last throes of a tumultuous period in power focused on guiding UK out of the EU.
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