LONDON: British science and universities minister, Sam Gyimah, quit Prime Minister Theresa May’s government on Friday, the sixth minister to resign in protest of her proposed Brexit deal with the European Union.
Gyimah, a junior-ranking minister who campaigned in the 2016 vote to keep Britain in the EU, said May’s deal meant Britain would surrender its “voice and its veto” and that the prime minister should not rule out the prospect of a second referendum.
His resignation represents a further blow to May, who is trying to persuade her own lawmakers to approve the deal she struck with Brussels on Sunday.
May faces criticism from all sides including the Northern Irish party propping up her government, ahead of Britain’s departure from the EU in four months.
“It has become increasingly clear to me that the proposed deal is not in the British national interest, and that to vote for this deal is to set ourselves up for failure,” Gyimah wrote in a resignation statement published by the Daily Telegraph newspaper. “We will be losing, not taking control of our national destiny.”
Gyimah did applaud the “grit and determination” of May, who is in Buenos Aires attending a Group of 20 summit.
Earlier on Friday, May conceded that Britain will not use the EU’s Galileo space project for defense or critical national infrastructure, following a row over the post-Brexit future of the planned rival to the US Global Positioning System.
“Galileo is only a foretaste of what’s to come under the government’s Brexit deal,” Gyimah said in his statement.
Another UK minister quits in protest at PM May’s Brexit deal
Another UK minister quits in protest at PM May’s Brexit deal
- Gyimah did applaud the “grit and determination” of May, who is in Buenos Aires attending a Group of 20 summit
Two high-speed trains derail in Spain, broadcaster reports five people killed
- The accident happened near Adamuz, which is near Cordoba
MADRID: Two high-speed trains derailed on Sunday in southern Spain, the rail network operator said, and state-run television channel RTVE said five people had died, citing police sources.
The accident happened near Adamuz, which is near Cordoba. An unknown number of passengers have been injured, RTVE said, citing Civil Guard sources.
“The Iryo 6189 Málaga — (to Madrid) train has derailed from the track at Adamuz, crashing onto the adjacent track. The (Madrid) to Huelva train which was traveling on the adjacent track has also derailed,” Adif, which runs the rail network, said in a social media post.
Adif said the accident happened about ten minutes after the Iryo train left Malaga heading toward Madrid at 6:40 p.m. (1740 GMT).
Iryo is an Italian-run private rail operator. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Adif has suspended all rail services between Madrid and Andalusia.
Andalusia emergency services said on social media that all rail traffic had been halted and emergency services were on their way, including at least nine ambulances and emergency support vehicles.
Salvador Jimenez, a journalist for RTVE who was on board the train from Cordoba to Madrid, shared images showing the rear carriage of the train lying on its side, with evacuated passengers sitting on the side of the carriage.
