British Brexit chief Frost resigns

British Brexit Minister David Frost resigned on Saturday out of disappointment with the course taken by Boris Johnson's government, dealing a heavy blow to the embattled prime minister while the Omicron variant is sweeping the country.

The resignation of Frost, one of the key architects of Johnson's tumultuous Brexit strategy, raised questions about the future tone of the EU divorce and the immediate course of talks on Northern Ireland. There is also a feeling of unrest in Johnson's conservative government.

Frost said he was confident that Brexit was safe, but had concerns about the direction of the government.

"You know my concerns about the current direction," Frost wrote to Johnson in a letter published on Downing Street.

"I hope we get to where we need to go as soon as possible: a lightly regulated, low-taxed, entrepreneurial economy that is at the forefront of modern science and economic change."

The Mail on Sunday first reported on his resignation, triggered by Johnson's stricter COVID restrictions, but also by broader dissatisfaction with tax hikes and the cost of environmental policies.

Frost said he agreed with Johnson to leave in January earlier this month, but since his move was leaked, it should be taken immediately.

"We also need to learn to live with COVID," said Frost. "I hope that we will soon get back on track and not allow ourselves to be carried away to such coercive measures as we have seen elsewhere."

Johnson said he regretted Frost's resignation.

The resignation of the UK government's senior Brexit negotiator comes on top of warnings from some of his own Conservative party friends that Johnson must improve leadership skills or face a challenge.

Johnson, who won a landslide election victory in December 2019, faces the biggest crisis of his prime ministery after a series of scandals and missteps that his opponents believe show he is unsuitable for the post of prime minister.

Since a video surfaced showing his staff laughing and joking about a party on Downing Street during a Christmas lockdown in 2020 when such festivities were banned, he has been exposed to a barrage of criticism.

Downing Street had denied there was a party. Britain's Chief Official, Simon Case, has resigned from leading the investigation into the alleged parties after it became known that an event had taken place in his own office.

The loss of a parliamentary seat in an election defeat in a Conservative stronghold earlier this week showed public dismay at the litany of scandals and heightened pressure on Johnson. [nL1N2T2040]

BREXIT FUTURE

Frost, a former diplomat repeatedly referred to by Johnson as "the biggest frost since the Great Frost of 1709," was a staunch Brexit supporter who negotiated Johnson's revised EU divorce treaty and trade deal.

He saw the British vote to leave the EU in 2016 as part of a broader rebellion against the transnational collective governance of the bloc, which wanted to revive the nation-state.

Having such a "Brexit believer" at the helm of British power gave Brexit supporters in the Conservative Party the assurance that Johnson would be tough on the European Union.

Until his resignation, Frost led an attempt by London to renegotiate parts of the divorce agreement affecting Northern Ireland.

But even beyond Brexit, the 56-year-old Frost was dissatisfied.

In a speech last month, Frost made clear his dissatisfaction with the course of UK post-Brexit policies.

"With Brexit we did not successfully roll the borders of the European Union away from Great Britain and then import the European model after all this time," said Frost in a speech on November 22nd at the Margaret Thatcher Conference on Trade.

He contradicted "those who believe we can just see the private sector as a convenient way to keep the public sector going."

"He's not just a source of taxes," said Frost. "We cannot go on as before, and if we only import the European social model after Brexit, we will not be successful."

The opposition Labor Party called the government chaotic and called on Johnson to clarify what will happen in talks with the EU over the Northern Ireland Protocol, which is part of the divorce treaty.

"Boris Johnson must pull himself together, tell us his plan for the next few weeks and give security to the people of Northern Ireland by breaking the blockade through the protocol," said Jenny Chapman, Labor shadow secretary in the cabinet office.