Sam Gyimah resigns in protest at Theresa May’s “naive” Brexit deal

Science and universities minister, Sam Gyimah, became the sixth minister to resign in protest at Theresa May's Brexit deal when he quit the government on Friday evening. 

It came after May announced that the UK was pulling out of the EU's Galileo satellite-navigation project, which Gyimah believes exposes the deal as "naive".

The decision to pull out of the project came after negotiations with the EU, in which they said the UK would be banned from the extra-secure elements of the programme.

In a statement, Gyimah, criticised the deal, saying: "Galileo is only a foretaste of what’s to come under the Government’s Brexit deal.

"Having surrendered our voice, our vote and our veto, we will have to rely on the ‘best endeavours’ of the EU to strike a final agreement that works in our national interest," he added.

"Galileo is a clarion call that it will be ‘EU first’, and to think otherwise – whether you are a leaver or remainer – is at best incredibly naive."

The UK has already invested €1.4bn into the Galileo project, which is the EU's version of the US's GPS system and intended to be used by government agencies and armed forces once it goes live in 2020.

This latest resignation is another blow for May, who is trying to persuade her own lawmakers to approve the deal she struck with Brussels on Sunday. 

Gyimah, who voted Remain, is the 10th minister to resign from the government since May set out her original proposals for leaving the EU at Chequers in July and confirmed he would be voting against the current deal. 

He also said that the prime minister should not rule out a second referendum, “as we all now have a better understanding of the potential paths before us."