‘Nigel who?’ - Tory Brexiteer Nigel Adams resigns from government

Conservative MP Nigel Adams speaks in the House of Commons. Photograph: PA. - Credit: PA Archive/PA Images

A junior minister and government whip Nigel Adams has resigned after Theresa May sought talks with Jeremy Corbyn to clear the ‘logjam’ on Brexit.

The Wales minister said the prime minister had made a ‘grave error’ by reaching out to the Labour leader in the hope of finding a consensus solution to Brexit ahead of a crunch EU summit on April 10.

In his letter, Adams said that the government faced two ‘great challenges’ of delivering ‘the Brexit the people voted for’ and preventing a Corbyn premiership.

And he added: ‘Sadly, I fear that we are now at risk of simultaneously failing in both.’

The Selby and Ainsty MP said: ‘Legitimising and turning to Jeremy Corbyn to assist you at this crucial stage, rather than being bold, is a grave error.

‘It is clear that we will now end up in the customs union. That is not the Brexit my constituents were promised and it is contrary to the pledge we made in our manifesto. It makes no sense to leave the EU and to have a situation where our trade policy and much of our law is made in Brussels with no say for the UK.’

Adams, who was made a whip in January 2018 and promoted to the Wales Office in November, said he continued to believe that no deal was better than a bad deal.

‘It now seems that you and your cabinet have decided that a deal cooked up with a Marxist who has never once in his political life put British interests first is better than no deal, ‘ he told the PM. ‘I profoundly disagree with this approach.’