Two Tory MPs have resigned as party vice chairs over Theresa May's Brexit deal as Brexiteers threatened more departures in the coming days.
Ben Bradley and Maria Caulfield sent resignation letters on Tuesday afternoon, following the dramatic exit from government of David Davis on Sunday night and Boris Johnson on Monday afternoon.
Both Bradley and Caulfield said the cabinet's Brexit decision for a so-called Northern Ireland "backstop" – which requires the UK to avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland under all negotiating scenarios – was the main reason they could no longer support May's approach to Brexit.
"The policy may assuage vested interests but the voters will find out and their representatives will be found out," Caulfield wrote. "This policy will be bad for our country and bad for the Party."
"The direct consequences of that will be Prime Minister Corbyn," she said.
Until his announcement today, Bradley was best known for having to apologise for libelling Jeremy Corbyn and for suggesting that unemployed people should have vasectomies.
On the 19th of February I made a defamatory statement about @jeremycorbyn. I have apologised to Mr Corbyn and here is the complete text of my apology. Please retweet. https://t.co/6JZc8O9E82
His resignation is likely to have come as a surprise to Downing Street, and not just because he supported Remain in the referendum. On Thursday, he tweeted his support for May's Brexit proposals when they became public on the eve of the Chequers cabinet showdown.
Whilst everyone gets very excited about Chequers tomorrow, truth is PM has been consistent with her #Brexit wishlist from day one - control of money, borders and laws. We should support her, get behind her and deliver precisely those things!
In his letter, Bradley said the Northern Ireland backstop would restrict the government's chance to "deliver Brexit in spirit as well as name" and result in the Tories "handing Jeremy Corbyn the keys to Number 10".
"It has become a problem rather than a solution, but the Northern Ireland backstop cannot be allowed to become the deciding factor for the whole of the UK's economy and trade policies," Bradley wrote.
He also sought to explain why he had changed his pro-EU position, claiming he had been "swayed" by the "immense opportunities that are available from global trade".
Ben Bradley resignation letter
While Brexiteer Tory MPs are threatening more resignations to pile pressure on May to ditch her Chequers deal, the latest departures were dismissed as minor by Westminster journalists.
Whoah. The prime minister survived losing her Brexit secretary and foreign secretary, but now she’s lost that guy who said the unemployed should have vasectomies. Can she come back from this?
CORRECTION
Maria Caulfield's name was misspelled in an earlier version of this story.