British Prime Minister Theresa May is in damage control mode……..
PM May appointed Dominic Raab as her new Brexit minister on Monday hours after his predecessor David Davis resigned. Raab’s appointment has made the process of Brexit an exciting one, as the ‘Eurosceptic’ Conservative politician holds a black belt third Dan in karate. Also, he is a regular boxer. However, it is still not clear whether the ‘fighter’ can get the PM out of trouble.
The 44-year-old’s jump straight into a heavyweight Cabinet job from the junior ministerial rank shows the PM’s confidence in Raab’s ability to handle the pressure. In recent past, Raab advised the government to take some bold steps – such as lower taxes, slash bureaucracy, spread free speech, put terrorists under surveillance, create “more ladders of opportunity” and strengthen local democracy – ahead of Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU).

Dominic Raab

It is to be noted that three ministers tendered resignations to PM May (in 24 hours) earlier this week. Britain is basically going through a difficult phase. Prime Minister May – who is desperate to leave the EU – is in favour of a ‘soft’ Brexit. So, she is ready to negotiate with the 28-member bloc, if necessary. However, the resignation of three ministers has made clear that her Cabinet colleagues are against the ‘soft’ stand on Brexit.
Although PM May accepted the resignation of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson (also on Monday), the outgoing minister’s statement upset her. Just before quitting as foreign secretary, the leading Brexiter said: “The trouble is that I have practised the words over the weekend and find that they stick in the throat. Since I cannot in all conscience champion these proposals, I have sadly concluded that I must go.”

Boris Johnson

With three ministers walking out over the ‘common rulebook’ proposal, (perhaps) PM May has realised that her political career is in real danger. She called a Cabinet meeting at 5:30pm on Monday to explain her Brexit policy. However, Johnson’s sudden move spoiled her plan. Johnson’s fellow pro-Brexiter David Davis resigned as Brexit secretary on Sunday night, swiftly followed by his No 2 at the Department for Exiting the EU, Steve Baker. Their decision has also shocked the seasoned British diplomats, who believe that Johnson’s resignation is ‘most unfortunate’ as he was the face of ‘Leave’ campaign.
Johnson clearly mentioned in his resignation letter that he could not support the PM’s stand on the proposed deal with the EU. He wrote: “It is also clear that by surrendering control over our rulebook for goods and agrifoods (and much else besides) we will make it much more difficult to do free trade deals. And then there is the further impediment of having to argue for an impractical and undeliverable customs arrangement unlike any other in existence.”

PM Theresa May

Davis, too, expressed similar view, stressing: “In my view, the inevitable consequence of the proposed policies will be to make the supposed control by Parliament illusory rather than real. As I said at Cabinet, the ‘common rulebook’ policy hands control of large swathes of our economy to the EU and is certainly not returning control of our laws in any real sense.”
Britain is all set to leave the EU on March 29, 2019. However, the two parties are yet to reach an agreement mainly on trade related issues. Even, members of the Conservative Party have failed to prepare a foolproof plan that is acceptable to all. In such a situation, the resignation of three ministers puts PM May under tremendous pressure. The global community is closely monitoring the political situation in London, as the future of Britain (as well as the EU) depends on May’s strategy to tackle the ongoing crisis.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das