In the waltz of resignations which have been linked since Tuesday evening in the government of Boris Johnson, this one is symbolic. Brandon Lewis, minister in charge of Northern Ireland, a thorny issue for several months, estimated that the government had reached “a point of no return”. “Decent and responsible government is built on honesty, integrity and mutual respect – it is with deep personal regret that I must leave government as I believe these values are no longer upheld,” said he estimated in a letter posted on Twitter and addressed to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
In the move launched by Health Ministers Sajid Javid and Finance Ministers Rishi Sunak, he is the fourth high-ranking minister to slam the door. But it is a real wave of resignations which overwhelms 10 Downing Street, with no less than 50 departures in a sprawling government which had nearly 120 members, with many secretaries of state.
Stuck in repeated scandals, accused of repeated lies, Boris Johnson brushed aside calls for resignation all day long, including from his loyal followers, dismissing his minister Michael Gove, in charge of territorial rebalancing, who in the morning l had also called to leave. Here he is without the man in charge of the unilateral revision of post-Brexit customs provisions in Northern Ireland, deemed illegal by the European Union.
