LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Brexit minister David Frost has resigned due to disillusionment with Boris Johnson’s government, dealing a blow to the embattled prime minister just as the Omicron variant sweeps across the country, the Mail on Sunday newspaper said.
Following is reaction to the report:
* Downing Street did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the story. Frost has said nothing in public on the report yet.
* The opposition Labour Party’s Shadow Minister of State at the Cabinet Office, Jenny Chapman:
“The government is in chaos. The country needs leadership not a lame duck PM who has lost the faith of his MPs and cabinet.
“Boris Johnson needs to get a grip, tell us his plan for the next few weeks and bring certainty for the people of Northern Ireland by unblocking the stalemate over the Protocol.2
* Nigel Farage, who led one of the main Brexit campaigns during the 2016 referendum:
“Lord Frost is leaving the government because he is a conservative and true Brexiteer. Boris Johnson is neither.”
* Democratic Unionist Party Leader Jeffrey Donaldson:
“This government is distracted by internal strife, and Lord Frost was being frustrated on a number of fronts.
“We wish David well. We enjoyed a strong relationship with him and his team but this raises more serious questions for the Prime Minister and his approach to the NI Protocol.
“The prime minister must now urgently decide which is more important – the Protocol or the stability of the political institutions.”
(Reporting by William Schomberg and Guy Faulconbridge)
