Sept. 7 (UPI) — British Member of Parliament and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Amber Rudd resigned from the Cabinet on Saturday, citing Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s expulsion of 21 Conservatives this week.
Rudd also surrendered the Conservative whip job.
“I cannot stand by as good, loyal moderate Conservatives are expelled,” she wrote in a letter announcing her decision.
“I have spoken to the PM and my association chairman to explain. I remain committed to the one nation values that drew me into politics.”
Rudd’s departure comes two days after Boris Johnson’s younger brother and fellow Conservative, Jo Johnson, quit Parliament.
The prime minister is working to contain fallout from his decision last month to suspend Parliament until mid-October. He lost his majority in Parliament after a Conservative Party member left, and he also removed 21 other members.
Boris Johnson has said the suspension is aimed at facilitating his domestic agenda and ending a session he says has already gone on too long. Critics say he’s trying to avert parliamentary attempts to block him from leaving the European Union in October without a bloc-sanctioned agreement.
Rudd said she quit the Cabinet because she didn’t believe Brexit with a deal in place was the government’s “main objective.”
“The government is expending a lot of energy to prepare for ‘No Deal’ but I have not seen the same level of intensity go into our talks with the European Union who have asked us to present alternative arrangements to the Irish backstop,” she wrote.
