Dominic Raab accused the EU of “blackmail” as a fellow cabinet minister condemned his resignation as a selfish bid to grab Theresa May’s job.
Open warfare broke out at the top of the Conservative party, with the outgoing Brexit secretary branded a “carpetbagger” by David Mundell, the Scottish secretary.
He said the deal was doomed to defeat in the House of Commons unless she changed course, describing it as having “two major and fatal flaws”.
“The first is that the terms being offered by the EU threaten the integrity of the United Kingdom and the second is that they would lead to an indefinite if not permanent situation where we're locked into a regime with no say over the rules being applied, with no exit mechanism,” he told the BBC.
“I think that would be damaging for the economy but devastating for public trust in our democracy.”
He said he held the prime minister in “high esteem” and “should continue”, but warned: “I do think we need to change course on Brexit.”
David Mundell calls Dominic Raab a 'carpet bagger' following Brexit investigation
He argued the government must risk a no-deal Brexit in the face of the EU's “blackmail” and did not rule out putting himself forward for leader if the government continued to fall apart.
The resignation of Mr Raab – an arch-Brexiteer, promoted to replace David Davis when he quit in protest at Mrs May's Brexit plans – was a devastating blow to the prime minister.
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He accused Mr Raab of developing a “latter-day commitment to the Union”, claiming his resignation was really “about manoeuvring and leadership”.
“I'm not taking lessons in standing up for our United Kingdom from carpetbaggers,” Mr Mundell told ITV Borders.
“Only a couple of years ago Dominic Raab was proposing to introduce a bill of rights into Scotland which would have overridden the Scottish legal system and devolution.
“So I'm not impressed by his latter-day commitment to the Union. I'm sure this is more about manoeuvring and leadership.”
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