Amber Rudd, UK's Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on Saturday resigned from the cabinet over Prime Minister Boris Johnson's stance on Brexit and the move to remove 21 Conservative MPs from the party, saying she cannot support an "act of political vandalism".
In her letter addressed to Johnson, Rudd also announced that she is surrendering the party's whip.
"I joined your Cabinet in good faith accepting that 'no deal' had to be on the table because it was the means by which we would have the best chance of achieving a new deal to leave by October 31. However, I no longer believe leaving with a deal is the government's main objective," she wrote in the letter posted on her Twitter handle.
"The government is expanding a lot of energy to prepare for a 'no deal' but I have not seen the same level of intensity to go into our talks with the European Union who have asked us to present alternative arrangements to the Irish backstop," Rudd outlined.
Asserting that her decision to resign was "difficult", the 56-year-old leader said Johnson's decision to sack 21 Conservative lawmakers from the party after they voted a bill aimed at preventing a no-deal Brexit was an "assault on decency and democracy".
"This short-sighted culling of my colleagues has stripped the party of broad-minded and dedicated Conservative MPs. I cannot support this act of political vandalism. Therefore, it is with great regret that I am surrendering the Conservative whip. It is with great sadness that I am resigning as the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Minister of Women and Equalities," Rudd stated in the letter.
She said that "Britain's body politic is under attack from both sides of the ideological debate", adding that she will now play whatever role she can to return it to a better place.
Rudd's resignation comes two days after the Prime Minister's brother Jo Johnson quit as an MP over "unresolvable tension" between "family loyalty and the national interest".
The developments have rattled the ruling Conservative Party government, which is struggling to eke out an agreement with the Opposition over the UK's withdrawal from the EU by October 31.
On Wednesday, British MPs rejected a motion tabled by Johnson to dissolve the Parliament and call for a snap election on October 15 after the opposition backed the bill aimed at preventing a no-deal Brexit, causing a huge headache to the government, which is now without a working majority.
Since taking office in July, Johnson has time and again outlined his aim to make the UK leave the EU "with or without a deal".
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