End of Theresa May in sight over Brexit
Expected to quit over Brexit plan revolt.
London: Theresa May might quit as she’s facing a growing cabinet revolt over her Brexit plan and humiliation for the Conservative Party in today’s European elections, reports say.
“The prime minister is expected to announce a departure plan on Friday after failing to quell a ministerial mutiny over her revised EU withdrawal agreement,” said The Independent.
“Commons leader Andrea Leadsom, the most prominent Brexiteer in the cabinet, resigned late on Wednesday and other ministers were expected to follow her out of the door.”
It comes as both the Tories and Labour face a drubbing in European parliament elections, with the Liberal Democrats and the Brexit Party set to capitalise, it says, Ms May will still be prime minister when Donald Trump arrives in Britain for his state visit in two weeks.
Speaking at a cybersecurity conference in London, foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt insisted she would be in place to greet the US president when he arrives on June 3 – despite reports that she is expected to resign on Friday.
“Theresa May will be prime minister to welcome him and rightly so,” he said.
City of Westminster Police has just warned of temporary road closures in place around Whitehall while a ‘suspect item assessed.’ Digital minister Margot James has said the PM is being ‘hounded out of office.’
“It’s all very regrettable, but she’s being hounded out of office because parliament will not make a decision and the parties just have an inability to compromise,” she said.
“But in the end, there's got to be a compromise."
An unprecedented number of extra police has been deployed in parts of the UK in anticipation of violence as voters go to the polls for the European elections, reports the British digital newspaper.
The plan, revealed by Police Scotland, follows an increasingly tense and hostile election campaign that has seen clashes between far-right activists and anti-racism protesters. Deputy Chief Constable Will Kerr, of Police Scotland, said four units comprising about 100 public order officers would be ‘strategically placed’ throughout the day. Downing Street said that it was not currently possible to schedule second reading of the bill for 7 June because agreement has not yet been secured with the opposition through the process known as “usual channels” for the Commons to sit that Friday, which had previously been designated a non-sitting day.