Brexit. Why do Brits want Out of the EU?

Wouldn't civil servants have a set of papers already prepared for a hard Brexit?

Two Conservative party vice-chairs have resigned in protest at Theresa May’s Chequers plans, timing their departures to a few minutes before the prime minister was due to give a press conference with Angela Merkel.

Ben Bradley and Maria Caulfield both released resignation letters saying they opposed May’s Brexit proposals, resigning in the wake of the departures of Boris Johnson, David Davis and Steve Baker.

Liam Fox has issued an extraordinary warning to EU leaders that they risk being kicked out by their own voters if they reject Theresa May’s new Brexit plan.

The alternative was the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal – which, the trade secretary claimed, would inflict “disproportionate pain” on Britain's smaller neighbours.

Dr Fox urged elected leaders to seize control of the process from Brussels to prevent a no-deal outcome, saying: “The pain that would occur would not be evenly spread across Europe.

“You can see it having a disproportionate impact on economies such as the Netherlands, Belgium or Ireland.”

On who should make the decision, he added: “It needs to be the actual countries with elected governments – that need to get prosperity and jobs and trade if those politicians want to get re-elected.”

Nevertheless, Dr Fox – who, unlike fellow Brexiteers Boris Johnson and David Davis has backed the plan agreed at Chequers – was gloomy about reaching agreement in Brussels.

Asked if the EU would accept the customs proposal, which would mean the UK collecting EU tariffs, he replied: “That’s of course impossible for me to say at the moment.

"One can imagine what might be the sort of objections that might come forward."

The trade secretary insisted it was a “credible proposition”, but admitted: “This is a completely unprecedented set of options being put forward.”

Theresa May will step up her efforts to secure a post-Brexit trade deal with the United States on Friday as she sits down for her first bilateral talks with Donald Trump against a backdrop of furious protest across the country.

As the government released its long-awaited Brexit white paper on Thursday, she sought to placate angry Tory leavers by winning US support for her softer Brexit plan, telling Trump it created an “unprecedented opportunity” for a free trade agreement.

At a dinner held in Trump’s honour at Blenheim Palace on Thursday night she also vowed to “tear down” the bureaucratic barriers that Brussels had put in the path of business, as part of an attempt to overcome US fears over her new Brexit plan.