Amidst turmoil due to a couple of resignations that have hit the British government over the Brexit draft deal, British Prime Minister Theresa May has appointed a new Brexit secretary
Stephen Barclay, a junior health minister who voted to leave the European Union, will be the new Brexit secretary. Whereas May will focus on overseeing negotiations, Barclay will devote his energies in ensuring the withdrawal agreement passes through the UK Parliament. This comes after a tumbling as Dominic Raab, the previous Brexit Secretary, quit yesterday over the draft plan. He is not the first one – two before him had also resigned.
Another replacement was made with former interior minister Amber Rudd, who has taken Esther McVey’s place as work and pensions minister.
These resignations of senior ministers over the draft deal is no good news for May. This comes amid swarming protests on the streets of London by tens of thousands of people demanding a second vote. Even conservative anti-EU groups have demanded May’s resignation, saying that “it would be in the interest of the party and the country if she were to stand aside”.
May has defended Brexit by saying that she does believe that it is the “best deal” for Britain. She also acknowledged the importance of the European market, stating that her insulin medicine comes from Europe. She went on further to justify Brexit by saying that “You’re absolutely right that for a lot of people who voted ‘Leave’, what they wanted to do was make sure that decisions on things like who can come into this country would be taken by us here in the UK, and not by Brussels, and that’s exactly what the deal I’ve negotiated delivers.” 52 percent of voters opted for Brexit while 48 percent voted to remain in the EU.
However analysts are not so sure, as investments into the UK and UK’s economy in general is expected to slow down and reduce so much so that it could cause permanent damage to the economy.
