Brexit minister Lord Frost has resigned as he told the Prime Minister that building a new relationship with the EU would be a “long-term task”, PA reports.
Lord Frost, a former Nottingham High School pupil, is reported to have handed in his resignation letter “with immediate effect” to Boris Johnson last week, with an agreement to leave in January.
Read more: 'Frustration' over uncertain Christmas as restrictions predicted
But in a letter to the PM released on Saturday evening, he said that he was “disappointed that this plan has become public this evening and in the circumstances, I think it is right for me to write to step down with immediate effect”.
Lord Frost, who has led negotiations with the EU, thanked Mr Johnson and said “Brexit is now secure”, but he said: “The challenge for the Government now is to deliver on the opportunities it gives us.
“You know my concerns about the current direction of travel.”
He also said he was sad the unlocking from Covid restrictions had not proved “irreversible” as promised, and added: “I hope we can get back on track soon and not be tempted by the kind of coercive measures we have seen elsewhere.”
And he expressed his wish that the UK would become a “lightly regulated, low-tax” country.
In his reply, Mr Johnson he was “very sorry” to have received his resignation.
Lord Frost’s departure was described as a “watershed moment” by prominent Brexiteer Tory Andrew Bridgen.
He told Times Radio it was a “devastating blow for the Government and the Prime Minister” and suggested that many Conservative colleagues would be considering the PM’s future over Christmas.
In a tweet, he added Mr Johnson was “running out of time and out of friends to deliver on the promises and discipline of a true Conservative Government”.
He said: “Lord Frost has made it clear, 100 Conservative backbenchers have made it clear, but most importantly so did the people of North Shropshire.”
For more stories from where you live, visit InYourArea.
