Brexit secretary Dominic Raab resigns

Sterling plunged nearly 1 percent against the dollar Thursday morning after U.K. Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab resigned.

Raab, in a letter to Prime Minister Theresa May, said he cannot reconcile terms of a proposed deal with promises made to the country in the manifesto.

By quitting over May’s compromise position with the European Union on the U.K.’s departure, Raab has lined himself up to stand in a future leadership contest as a Brexit purist - a position popular with a large tranche of Conservative lawmakers and members. It also deprives the prime minister of a key Cabinet voice as she tries to secure parliamentary support for a deal.

“Today, I have resigned as Brexit Secretary. I cannot in good conscience support the terms proposed for our deal with the EU. Here is my letter to the PM explaining my reasons, and my enduring respect for her”, he tweeted.

Earlier on Thursday, Shailesh Vara quit as minister of state for Northern Ireland, saying he cannot support May's agreement, which he said "leaves the UK in a halfway house with no time limit on when we will finally be a sovereign nation".