LONDON 10 Jul (ANA) - Theresa May will chair her new-look cabinet this morning after a string of resignations over her Brexit strategy left her government in crisis.

 

Mrs May was forced to carry out a reshuffle of her top team after Boris Johnson and David Davis both quit.

 

The prime minister has warned the Tory party it must unite or face the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn in power.

 

Jeremy Hunt, who has replaced Mr Johnson as foreign secretary, said he would be "four square" behind her.

 

The UK is due to leave the European Union on 29 March 2019, but the two sides have yet to agree how trade will work between the UK and the EU after that.

 

The delay has been partly blamed on deep disagreements within the Conservative Party over what shape Brexit should take.

 

Essentially the arguments are about how much the UK should prioritise business interests by compromising on post-referendum promises to end free movement of people, remove the UK from the remit of the European Court of Justice, and also have an independent trade policy which allows the UK to set its own trade rules and strike its own trade deals.

 

Last Friday at the prime minister's country retreat at Chequers Mrs May brokered a "collective" agreement on proposals for the future relationship between the EU and UK.

 

However, Mr Johnson - whose departure on Monday followed that of Brexit Secretary David Davis and several junior figures - accused Mrs May of pursuing a "semi-Brexit".

 

In his resignation letter, he said the Brexit "dream is dying, suffocated by needless self-doubt".

 

Mrs May later faced down backbench critics at a meeting of the 1922 committee, amid rumours they were close to getting the 48 signatures needed to trigger a no-confidence vote that could spark a leadership election.

 

She told her critics the alternative to the party coming together could be a left wing Labour administration, with Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister.

 

But most of the top jobs in government are now held by ministers who had backed Remain - including the new Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

 

Attorney General Jeremy Wright replaced Mr Hancock as the culture secretary, with backbencher Geoffrey Cox becoming the new attorney general.

 

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mr Johnson and Mr Davis had abandoned a "sinking ship", shattering the "illusion of unity" initially surrounding the Chequers plan.(ANA)

FA/ANA/10 July 2018------