Category Archives: The Denise Simon Experience

Trump’s Visit to London Predicts Confrontations

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U.S. Embassy Alert
U.S. Embassy Alert  Meanwhile, Prime Minister Theresa May has a Brexit government that is slowly imploding.

Theresa May insisted Tuesday that her plan to retain close ties with the European Union “absolutely keeps faith” with voters’ decision to leave the bloc, as she tried to restore government unity after the resignations of two top ministers over Brexit.

May has spent the past few days fighting for her political life as first Brexit Secretary David Davis and then Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson quit, saying May’s plans for future relations with the European Union did not live up to their idea of Brexit. On Tuesday, two more lawmakers followed them out the door. More here.

President Trump is about to visit a real hornet’s nest.

Demonstration Alert – U. S. Embassy United Kingdom – July 10, 2018

Location: London

Event: Numerous demonstrations are being planned for July 12 to 14, 2018, surrounding the visit of the President of the United States to the United Kingdom. The majority of the demonstrations will be focused in central London on July 13, with other events planned for July 12 and 14. Several of the events are expected to attract large crowds and there will be road closures in connection with those events.

Actions to Take:

• Be aware of your surroundings.
• Exercise caution if unexpectedly in the vicinity of large gatherings that may become violent.
• Keep a low profile.
• Monitor local media for updates.
• View updates from UK police at met.police.uk and follow @MetPoliceEvents and @MetPoliceUK for guidance.

Assistance:

• U.S. Embassy London, United Kingdom
+(44) (0) 207-499-9000
 [email protected]
 https://uk.usembassy.gov/
• State Department – Consular Affairs
888-407-4747 or 202-501-4444

The London mayor, Sadiq Khan also tweeted this his city is a city of openness, tolerance, diversity and English breakfasts aren’t bad either. We ask our American friends what living in London was like for them.

UPI: A large blimp portraying U.S. President Donald Trump as a baby will fly over London during his upcoming visit to Britain.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s Greater London Authority approved a request for the blimp’s flight after thousands signed a petition and a crowdfunding campaign raised more than $20,000 to fly the balloon, Britain’s Sky News reported.

The nearly 20-foot tall inflatable blimp depicts an orange baby, meant to represent Trump, with “a malevolent face and tiny hands,” Trump Baby U.K. said on its crowdfunding page.

“Trump Baby can become a permanent feature of this dreadful Presidency, a constant, unmissable reminder of the contempt with which this embarrassment of a man is held by everyone outside of his deranged, bigoted base,” the group said.

Khan’s office indicated the group would ground its balloon in Parliament Square Garden, near Big Ben and Westminster Palace.

“The Mayor supports the right to peaceful protest and understands that this can take many different forms,” Khan’s office said in a statement.

Trump Baby U.K. said it wanted to make sure the blimp would look down on Trump while he visits Britain later this month.

The blimp will fly on July 13 between 9.30 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. local time amid a “Stop Trump” march in London, the Evening Standard reported.

Trump is scheduled to meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May and Queen Elizabeth II during his visit.

Perhaps we can begin to blame the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. He approved a ‘Trump baby protest blimp’. There is even a Twitter account for the blimp.

lndivisible vs. Trump, lmmigration and Kavanaugh

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Ever wonder where all these protests come from and how they are coordinated? Checkout this out.

  Directly after President Trump announced Brett Kavanaugh as the Supreme Court nominee, there were protests on 1st Street in front of the Supreme court.

    Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The organization issues call scripts for each issue, including Obamacare, immigration, civil rights, education, EPA and how to stop the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh. Grassroots at its best, designed by Obama and his sidekick, Valerie Jarrett.

This operation is located in Washington DC, with chapters in major cities and closely partnered with Act Blue.

This is not a new thing by the way, as it seems media did some reporting in 2017. n fact, you can click here and scroll down to see some interesting names that are part of this movement. Don’t forget those like Jennifer Palmeri as she is in this too. Soros money? Oh yes of course, all part of the resist and rebuild agenda.

Pushing the influence for many years, check out the background, the people, the money.

Meanwhile, the foot soldiers get training, perhaps as much as 6 weeks.  There have been summits like this one in 2017. The leadership of this operation includes:

lndivar Dutta-Gupta

Leah Greenberg

Ezra Levin

David Slifka

Meighan Stone, is Director of the Malala Fund. She served previously as Vice President of Communications and Special Projects at World Food Program USA and as President of the Developing Group, supporting the Global Partnership for Education’s 2011 $1.5 billion Replenishment Conference. Meighan has lead special projects in conjunction with the Clinton Global Initiative, World Economic Forum, 2010 FIFA World Cup and at UN and G8 summits globally. At Bono’s ONE Campaign, she was Communications Director and then Director of Special Projects, part of the team that helped build the organization in its early years. Meighan has also served as a Congressional Fellow, media consultant for the World Economic Forum and worked on HIV/AIDS projects in the office of President Clinton. A former campaign Press Secretary, Meighan has also worked on the Democratic National Convention and Inauguration of President Obama. She is a member of the Board for both Pencils of Promise and Good Labs.

Angel Padilla, Policy Director for The Indivisible Project. He has also served as the Health Policy Analyst for the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), an immigration policy consultant at National Council of La Raza, and a legislative assistant for Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL), advising on issues related to health care and the Affordable Care Act, among others. Mr. Padilla also has interned with the Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council and the U.S. House of Representatives. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree from Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Maria Urbina, is the VP of Politics and National Campaigns at Voto Latino where she is charged with developing a voter engagement strategy, running multiple national campaigns, and heading up the political and communications department of Voto Latino. Before joining Voto Latino, Maria served as the Senior Advisor for Hispanic and Asian Affairs in the office of Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). In this role, Maria advised Senator Reid on policy, political strategy and outreach affecting Latino and Asian American communities in Nevada and across the country. Maria also worked with influential Latino and Asian American groups to elevate their advocacy within the Democratic Caucus of the U.S. Senate. Prior to joining Senator Reid’s senior staff, Maria served as his legislative correspondence manager and immigration legislative aide. In addition to her Senate work, Maria has worked on Latino political outreach in several key campaigns, including for Senator Reid in 2010, President Obama in 2012 and Senator Mark Udall in 2014. Maria was raised in Carson City, Nevada, and is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, where she majored in political science and journalism. Maria is a proud alumnus of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Public Policy Fellowship program and American University’s Women & Politics Institute Leadership Training Program for young women in politics.

 

Summary

Here’s the quick-and-dirty summary of this document. While this page summarizes top-level takeaways, the full document describes how to actually carry out these activities.

Chapter One

Grassroots Advocacy

How grassroots advocacy worked to stop President Obama. We examine lessons from the Tea Party’s rise and recommend two key strategic components:

  1. A local strategy targeting individual Members of Congress (MoCs).
  2. A defensive approach purely focused on stopping Trump from implementing an agenda built on racism, authoritarianism, and corruption.

Chapter Two

Your Member of Congress

How your MoC thinks — reelection, reelection, reelection — and how to use that to save democracy. MoCs want their constituents to think well of them, and they want good, local press. They hate surprises, wasted time, and most of all, bad press that makes them look weak, unlikable, and vulnerable. You will use these interests to make them listen and act.

Chapter Three

Organize Locally

Identify or organize your local group. Is there an existing local group or network you can join? Or do you need to start your own? We suggest steps to help mobilize your fellow constituents locally and start organizing for action.

Chapter four

Advocacy Tactics

Four local advocacy tactics that actually work. Most of you have three MoCs — two Senators and one Representative. Whether you like it or not, they are your voices in Washington. Your job is to make sure they are, in fact, speaking for you. We’ve identified four key opportunity areas that just a handful of local constituents can use to great effect. Always record encounters on video, prepare questions ahead of time, coordinate with your group, and report back to local media:

  • Town halls. MoCs regularly hold public in-district events to show that they are listening to constituents. Make them listen to you, and report out when they don’t.
  • Other local public events. MoCs love cutting ribbons and kissing babies back home. Don’t let them get photo-ops without questions about racism, authoritarianism, and corruption.
  • District office visits. Every MoC has one or several district offices. Go there. Demand a meeting with the MoC. Report to the world if they refuse to listen.
  • Coordinated calls. Calls are a light lift, but can have an impact. Organize your local group to barrage your MoCs with calls at an opportune moment about and on a specific issue.

Nuclear Test Video Footage Declassified, Nuclear Vault

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***

FNC: At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. was testing nuclear weapons in case it needed to use them. Now, remarkable footage has been released, with more than 250 videos detailing just how extensive the testing was.

The Lawrence Livermore National Library (LLNL) in California has posted the videos to its YouTube channel, all of which are now declassified, and they show countless explosions that took place on testing grounds in the U.S., from 1945 to 1962.

LLNL’s weapon physicist Greg Spriggs said it was imperative the team restored the footage, a process which took five years.

“We know that these films are on the brink of decomposing to the point where they become useless,” Spriggs said, according to the Daily Mail.

Spriggs added that it took several years to track down the footage. Only after the footage was found, did the LLNL researchers realize that most of the data about the tests was wrong. With less sophisticated technology at their disposal than their modern counterparts, scientists reportedly struggled to estimate the explosions’ size and power.

In total, there were 210 nuclear weapons tests that took place during the 17-year period, the laboratory noted. The lab added that nearly 10,000 of the films “sat idle, scattered across the country in high-security vaults.”

“The goals are to preserve the films’ content before it’s lost forever, and provide better data to the post-testing-era scientists who use computer codes to help certify that the aging U.S. nuclear deterrent remains safe, secure and effective,” LLNL said on its YouTube page.

“By looking at these films we found a lot of different pieces of information had not been analyzed back in the 1950s, and we’re discovering new things about these detonations that have never been seen before,” Spriggs said. “We decided to try and reanalyze the films and come up with better data to better understand nuclear weapon effects.”

There is still footage from blasts that occurred during the period that is classified, but only because the yield size has never been released to the public. Included in the footage is Operation Plumbbob, a series of tests that occurred between May 28 and Oct. 7, 1957 at the Nevada test site. Operation Plumbbob is widely considered to be the most controversial test series among experts.

***

The majority of the tests took place in the Pacific Ocean or in Nevada, the lab noted, but there is still significantly more footage to be analyzed, with Spriggs stating that only 6,500 films have been found and only 4,200 scanned.

“Of that number we’ve probably analyzed about 400 or 500 of these films,” Spriggs said, according to the Mail.

*** Read in total from the Nuclear Vault.

https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/collage.jpg

Meanwhile, Presidential Control of Nuclear Weapons: The ‘Football’ has also be declassified.

Declassified Documents Include Eisenhower’s Briefing to President-elect Kennedy on the “Satchel” Containing Information Needed to Conduct Nuclear War

JFK requested procedures for launching nuclear attacks without consulting Pentagon

In part:

A number of important developments made Football-type arrangements important both to the president and the Pentagon leadership. The emergence of a Soviet ICBM threat in the late 1950s greatly reduced warning time and the need for rapid decisions in a crisis made it important to establish procedures for convening emergency conferences between the president, the secretary of defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Moreover, the creation of the Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP) in the early 1960s, soon gave the president (or a successor) a menu of preemptive or retaliatory nuclear attack options. The Football came to include the “SIOP Execution Handbook,” with detailed information on the strike options.

Today’s posting includes documents published for the first time on the early history of the Football/Black Bag/satchel, including what may be the first declassified reference to the Football. Included in today’s materials are:

  • The record of a briefing in January 1961 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and White House Staff Secretary Andrew J. Goodpaster to President-elect John F. Kennedy about the contents of the emergency “satchel”
  • White House questions from January 1962 about whether the president could order a nuclear strike in an emergency without consulting the Pentagon
  • A Pentagon memorandum from November 1962 on an “Emergency Actions Folder” forwarded to a White House Naval aide concerning actions that could be taken under various Defense Readiness Conditions [DEFCONs].
  • Documents from 1963 on the making of the “SIOP Execution Handbook,” created expressly for the president’s use in a crisis and one of the major items in the Football.
  • Documents from 1964 on the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s creation of the “Gold Book,” the renamed emergency actions folder, for inclusion in the emergency satchel.
  • Memoranda from 1964 on President Johnson’s first briefing on the nuclear war plans, the Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP), with White House military aides among the listeners.
  • A draft memorandum from early 1965 suggesting that President Johnson did not like to “be followed so closely” by a military aide carrying the Football and that he wanted other arrangements.
  • A June 1965 memorandum by a White House naval aide explicitly referring to the “FOOTBALL.”

The existence of the Football embodies the presidential control of nuclear weapons that is essential to civilian direction of the military, but it points to the risks of one person having exclusive power to make fateful decisions to use nuclear weapons. President John F. Kennedy  spoke to the problem in November 1962 by saying, “From the point of view of logic there was no reason why the President of the United States should have the decision on whether to use nuclear weapons,” but “ history had given him this power.” Much more detail here.

ISIS Making a Comeback with Specific Targets

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ISIS is trying to make a comeback by creating chaos with assassinations — the same tactic it employed before it rose to power 5 years ago

  • The terrorist group ISIS has lost most of its territory and has few fighters left in Iraq and Syria, but it remains a threat in the region.
  • A new report warns that ISIS is attempting to make a comeback by resorting to a tactic it employed back in 2013 when it was still known as Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) — the targeted assassinations of Iraqi security personnel.
  • ISIS also continues to wage an effective propaganda campaign online, which helps it maintain a global footprint even as its presence in Iraq and Syria has become more faint.

Roughly four years ago, ISIS shocked the world when it took over a large swath of territory across Iraq and Syria, declaring the establishment of a new Islamic caliphate in the process.

Fast forward to 2018 and the terrorist group is a shadow of what it was even a year ago. It has lost the vast majority of the territory it previously held and the number of fighters it counted among its ranks has dwindled exponentially to below 3,000.

Nevertheless, ISIS remains a threat in the Middle East, and a new report from the Soufan Center warns it’s attempting to make a comeback by resorting to a tactic it employed back in 2013 when it was still known as Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) — the targeted assassinations of Iraqi security personnel.

“To get back to its heyday of 2014, the Islamic State first needs to get back to 2013, a year in which the terrorist group concluded one very successful campaign to free thousands of its detained members from Iraqi jails and started another campaign to assassinate and intimidate Iraqi security personnel, particularly local police officers,” the report stated.

In late June, Iraq executed 12 ISIS members, which the Soufan Center says was in response to the “high-profile assassination” of eight Iraqi security personnel.

‘A weakened Islamic State is now trying to recreate that past’

With fewer numbers, ISIS will be less inclined to focus on regaining territory and more likely to ramp up attacks on Iraqi police to sow the same brand of chaos it did back in 2013, according to the Soufan Center.

“A weakened Islamic State is now trying to recreate that past,” the report noted.”Targeted attacks on police and government officials have risen in several provinces as the group has stopped its military collapse and refocused on what is possible for the group now.”

The report added, “Assassinations require few people and are perfectly suited as a force multiplier for a group that has seen its forces decimated.”

‘The social fabric of Iraq remains severely frayed’

Peter Mandaville, a professor of international affairs at George Mason University who previously served as a top adviser to the State Department on ISIS, backed up the Soufan Center report.

“I think it would be difficult for ISIS to retake significant territory given the ongoing presence and vigilance of [US-led] coalition forces,” Mandaville told Business Insider, adding, “They certainly have the capacity to engage in an extended insurgency campaign using the kinds of tactics highlighted in the Soufan Center report.”

Mandaville said the situation on the ground in Iraq — that led to the rise of ISIS in the first place — has not changed significantly even though ISIS has more or less been defeated militarily.

“The social fabric of Iraq remains severely frayed, with high levels of political polarization,” Mandaville said. “Until the central government succeeds in advancing key political and security reforms, many areas of Iraq will continue to provide a permissive environment for low intensity ISIS operations.”

David Sterman of the New America Foundation, an expert on terrorism and violent extremism, expressed similar sentiments.

Sterman told Business Insider that the threat of ISIS returning to the strategy of breeding chaos on the local level by targeting Iraq security personal is “very serious.”

“ISIS continues to show capability to conduct attacks in liberated areas, an issue seen also during the surge,” Sterman added. “Bombings in Baghdad in January illustrate this as well as the assassinations and smaller attacks discussed” in the Soufan Center report.

In short, ISIS is still in a position to create havoc, albeit in a more limited capacity, in an already troubled country that really hasn’t even begun to recover from years of conflict.

ISIS continues to operate underground across the world

From a broader standpoint, this does not necessarily mean ISIS poses a significant threat to the US.

“Even at its height, ISIS did not demonstrate a capability to direct a strike on the US homeland (as opposed to Europe),” Sterman said. “So the threat [in the US] predominantly remains homegrown and inspired. Of course that doesn’t mean the US should take its eye off of what is happening in Iraq and Syria. ISIS’s bursting onto the global scene is proof of that.”

ISIS continues to wage an effective propaganda campaign online, which helps it maintain a global footprint even as its presence in Iraq and Syria has become more faint.

Moreover, ISIS is also turning to Bitcoin and encrypted communications as a means of rallying its followers worldwide.

“If you look across the globe, the cohesive nature of the enterprise for ISIS has been maintained,” Russell Travers, the acting head of the National Counterterrorism Center, recently told The New York Times. “The message continues to resonate with way too many people.”

The Trump administration says there’s ‘still hard fighting ahead’ against ISIS

Speaking with reporters in late June, Defense Secretary James Mattis lauded the success the US-led coalition has had against ISIS in Iraq and Syria but added that “there’s still hard fighting ahead.”

“Bear with us; there’s still hard fighting ahead,” Mattis said. “It’s been hard fighting, and again, we win every time our forces go up against them. We’ve lost no terrain to them once it’s been taken.”

Meanwhile, US troops stationed near the Iraq-Syria border have been hammering ISIS in Syria with artillery in recent weeks.

*** New alliance formed in Syria | rojavaofficialsupport

SOUTHWEST ASIA, July 9, 2018 — Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve and its partners have accelerated offensive activity against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria targets in designated parts of Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Operation Roundup

Since the May 1 start of Operation Roundup, Syrian Democratic Forces resumed major offensive operations in the Middle Euphrates River Valley. Since then, the SDF has continued to gain ground through offensive operations coupled with precision coalition strike support.

CJTFOIR and its partner forces continue to exert pressure on ISIS’ senior leaders and associates in order to degrade, disrupt and dismantle ISIS structures and remove terrorists throughout Iraq and Syria. ISIS morale is sinking on the frontlines as privileged leaders increasingly abandon their own fighters on the battlefield, taking resources with them as they flee.

Over the coming weeks, Operation Roundup will continue to build momentum against ISIS remnants remaining in the Iraq-Syria border region and the Middle Euphrates River Valley. the Coalition remains committed to the lasting defeat of ISIS here, increasing peace and stability in the region and protecting all our homelands from the ISIS threat.

Between July 2-8, coalition military forces conducted 31 strikes, consisting of 42 engagements, in Iraq and Syria

2017 Abu Kamal offensive - Wikipedia

Strikes in Syria

Yesterday in Syria, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of one engagement against ISIS targets near Abu Kamal. The strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS vehicle.

On July 7, coalition military forces conducted two strikes consisting of two engagements against ISIS targets near Abu Kamal. The strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS vehicle.

On July 6, coalition military forces conducted two strikes consisting of two engagements against ISIS targets near Abu Kamal. The strikes destroyed two ISIS vehicles.

On July 5, coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of 11 engagements against ISIS targets:

— Near Abu Kamal, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS vehicle.

— Near Shadaddi, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS improvised explosive device, an ISIS vehicle, an ISIS logistics hub and an ISIS headquarters.

On July 4, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of eight engagements against ISIS targets.

— Near Abu Kamal, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS vehicle and an ISIS-held building.

— Near Shadaddi, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed three ISIS vehicles and an ISIS headquarters.

On July 3, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of four engagements against ISIS targets near Abu Kamal. The strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two ISIS vehicles and an ISIS fighting position.

On July 2, coalition military forces conducted three strikes consisting of three engagements against ISIS targets.

— Near Abu Kamal, two strikes destroyed two ISIS supply routes.

— Near Shadaddi, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS vehicle.

Strikes in Iraq

Yesterday in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted two strikes consisting of two engagements against ISIS targets:

— Near Makhmur, a strike destroyed an ISIS-held building.

— Near Kisik, a strike destroyed an ISIS tunnel.

On July 7, coalition military forces conducted two strikes consisting of two engagements against ISIS targets:

— Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed an ISIS-held building.

— Near Qaim, a strike destroyed an ISIS supply route.

On July 6, coalition military forces conducted two strikes consisting of two engagements against ISIS targets:

— Near Hawijah, a strike destroyed two ISIS fighting positions.

— Near Qaim, a strike destroyed an ISIS supply route.

On July 5, coalition military forces conducted one strike consisting of one engagement against ISIS targets near Basheer. The strike destroyed five ISIS caves.

There were no reported strikes conducted in Iraq on July 4.

On July 3, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of three engagements against ISIS targets near Habbaniyah. The strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS vehicle.

On July 2, coalition military forces conducted a strike consisting of one engagement against ISIS targets near Tal Afar. The strike destroyed an ISIS vehicle.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group’s ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said.

The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and ground-based tactical artillery, officials noted.

A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect.

For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.

The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.

Brexit and PM May Falling Apart as Boris Resigns

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Boris Johnson resignation letter
Part two of Boris Johnson resignation letter Taking bets on whether there is a coup underway to force PM Theresa May to resign.
BORIS JOHNSON HAS resigned as Foreign Secretary, dealing another blow to Prime Minister Theresa May in the wake of the resignation of Brexit Secretary David Davis last night.

It was reported yesterday that Johnson had described May’s latest Brexit proposals as “polishing a turd” in the course of the day-long meeting of ministers at the Prime Minister’s country retreat on Friday.

“This afternoon, the Prime Minister accepted the resignation of Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary,” a statement from Downing Street said.

His replacement will be announced shortly. The Prime Minister thanks Boris for his work.

Davis’s resignation, meanwhile, was announced late last night with the departing minister saying he no longer believed in the plan for the UK’s future relations with the EU, which was backed by the Cabinet at that Friday Chequers meeting.

Junior minister Steve Baker confirmed he had also quit, alongside Davis. Dominic Raab was named as new Secretary of State for Brexit earlier.

The question of whether Johnson would follow Davis out the door had been unresolved all morning – his decision, publicly announced just half an hour before a scheduled Commons address by May, only adds to the growing uncertainty around the Prime Minister’s position.

In his resignation letter this evening, Johnson said: “Brexit should be about opportunity and hope. It should be a chance to do things differently, to be more nimble and dynamic…

The dream is dying, suffocated by needleless self-doubt.

He said that crucial decisions had been postponed and that the current policy from May would deliver a “semi-Brexit” that would leave the UK forced to accept EU laws on a range of issues, rather than making its own.

Johnson said: “In that respect, we are truly headed for the status of colony – and many will struggle to see the economic or political advantages of that particular arrangement.”

He also likened Theresa May’s negotiating strategy to “sending our vanguard into battle with the white flags fluttering above them”.

Commons statement

Delivering her statement on Brexit, May began by paying tribute to Davis for his efforts setting up the Brexit department. She said Johnson had brought “passion” to his promotion of Britain abroad and welcomed Raab to the Cabinet.

“We do not agree about the best way of delivering our shared commitment to honouring the result of the referendum,” she said of her departing ministers.

Amid heckling from the opposition, she continued by summarising the plan signed off by ministers last Friday and insisting a ‘no deal’ Brexit could have profound consequences for the UK and EU.

The 12 key principles for Brexit negotiations set out by Downing Street on Friday included a new “UK-EU free trade area with a common rulebook for industrial goods and agricultural products”.

The proposed plan (which can be read in full here) would avoid checks on the border while fulfilling domestic promises to end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, control migration and allow Britain to establish its own trade policy.

may Theresa May addresses the Commons this afternoon. Source: Parliament.uk/screengrab

‘Challenging for the EU’

There was laughter and more heckling when she said the Brexit plan would be “challenging for the EU”. The rumbles from across the aisle continued as she spoke of a “Brexit dividend” that could be used to help fund the NHS.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn went on the attack right away, telling the chamber that the Chequers deal had taken two years to reach and had lasted only two days.

How can anyone have faith in May reaching a deal with the EU when she can’t reach an agreement with members of her Cabinet, he asked.

Davis and Johnson, he suggested tongue-in-cheek, would have quit on the spot during the behind-closed-doors country house meeting on Friday had it not meant “a very long walk, no phone, and, due to government cuts, no bus service either”.

Speaker of the Commons John Bercow called for calm as members continued to shout and heckle in a packed chamber, telling MPs there was no need for them to “chunter from their seats”.