Another Brexit minister bites the dust as Chris Heaton-Harris resigns

Brexit minister Chris Heaton-Harris. Photograph: House of Commons. - Credit: Archant

The government has lost another Brexit minister following the resignation of Chris Heaton-Harris.

He is the second pro-Brexit minister to resign following Theresa May’s decision to hold Brexit talks with Jeremy Corbyn.

In a letter to the prime minister Heaton-Harris wrote: ‘I simply cannot support any further extension to Article 50’.

He continued: ‘I have constantly voted in Parliament for us to leave the European Union on March 29th, 2019. I truly believe we should have honoured the result of the 2016 referendum and left on that date. Indeed every time we seek an extension to this process we diminish faith in our political system and the good people, from all political parties, who serve within it. I simply cannot support any further extension to Article 50 and this obviously means I cannot stay in government.’

Heaton-Harris was previously condemned for demanding that university lecturers reveal details of their lessons plans that reference Brexit.

One university was so outraged by the Freedom of Information request that it appealed to the information commissioner, and won its case against the Brexiteer.

He is the 36th minister to resign from the government in the last 12 months.

Earlier the Wales minister and whip Nigel Adams resigned saying the prime minister had made a ‘grave error’ by reaching out to the Labour leader in the hope of finding a consensus on Brexit ahead of a crunch EU summit on April 10.