Associated Press reports from London Two British Cabinet ministers, including Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, resigned Thursday in opposition to the divorce deal struck by Prime Minister Theresa May with the EU — a major blow to her authority and her ability to get the deal through Parliament. A defiant May insisted Brexit meant making “the right choices, not the easy ones” and called for lawmakers to support the deal “in the national interest.” “The choice is clear,” she told them. “We can choose to leave with no deal. We can risk no Brexit at all. Or we can choose to unite and support the best deal that can be negotiated — this deal.” But the resignations, less than a day after the Cabinet collectively backed the draft divorce deal, weaken May and are likely to embolden her rivals within her Conservative Party. A leadership challenge is being openly discussed. The departures — several junior ministers have also quit — are a further sign that many supporters of Brexit won’t back May in a vote in Parliament on the deal. That’s prompted a big drop in the value of the pound, which was trading 1.5 percent lower at $1.28. Pro-Brexit politicians argue that the agreement, which calls for close trade ties between the U.K. and the bloc, would leave Britain a vassal state, bound to EU rules that it has no say in making. Before Parliament votes on the deal — the culmination of a year and a half of negotiations between the two sides — EU leaders have to give their backing. On Thursday, EU chief Donald Tusk called for a summit of leaders to be held on November 25 so they can rubber-stamp the draft deal reached by officials earlier this week. May has supporters in her party, and they insisted on Thursday that the alternatives — leaving the trading bloc without a deal or a second vote on Brexit — were not realistic options. But May’s chances of getting her deal through Parliament appeared to be shrinking. Her Conservative government doesn’t have enough lawmakers of its own to get a majority, and relies on the support of the Democratic Unionist Party from Northern Ireland, which says it will not support the deal. Read more at thenationalherald.com RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Photo Source: pixabay.com