May faces stern test over Brexit

The resignations of Britain’s Brexit secretary, David Davis, and the minister for exiting the EU, Steve Baker, are a severe blow to Theresa May’s embattled government, which she may struggle to hold together. The Conservative Party finds itself in a shambles on the eve of Donald Trump’s long-delayed first visit to Britain as President, but this must not be allowed to alter progress towards the clean, decisive break with Brussels that British voters supported in the historic referendum 25 months ago.

In resigning, Mr Davis and Mr Baker placed themselves on the side of hardline Brexiteers who accuse Mrs May of leading the country towards a “soft Brexit” that would keep Britain tied to too many onerous EU regulations. It has been looking “less and less” likely, Mr Davis argued, that Britain will leave the European single market and customs union. A weekend cabinet summit that endorsed Mrs May’s Brexit plans, he warned, would hand control of “large swathes of our economy to the EU” and “certainly not (return to us) control of our laws”, a paramount issue in the “leave” vote. It would also constrain Britain in its quest for new markets across the world, including Australia, which was one of the main promises held out by Brexit.

Potential challengers for Mrs May’s job such as Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Environment Secretary Michael Gove backed the Prime Minister at the summit. But Mr Davis was right to sound the alarm. A “soft” Brexit is not what voters supported. The deep disarray that has overtaken Mrs May’s government, reflected in her knife-edge victory in last year’s election, stems from her failure to lead the clean-cut Brexit voters supported.

With Mr Trump, an outspoken EU critic and Brexit sympathiser, in Britain for four days, Mrs May is likely to face a testing time if he lashes out on the subject. In order to survive politically, she must get back to basics and ensure Britain is no longer constrained by Brussels’ diktats. Brexiteers, too, should not overplay their hand. Disarray among the Tories could smooth socialist Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s road to Downing Street.