Brexit deal: Theresa May defends EU agreement in press conference after flurry of cabinet resignations

Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of everything Brexit.

  ↵ Theresa May is already facing crises on numerous fronts, the first being the threat of a raft of resignations after Brexit secretary Dominic Raab quit on Thursday morning. 

Here's the latest on Dominic Raab's resignation:

The pound fell heavily against most major currencies after Mr Raab's resignation. Sterling dropped 1.1% to 1.28 US dollars and was 1.2% lower at 1.13 euros.

Northern Ireland minister Shailesh Vara has quit the government in protest at Theresa May‘s Brexit deal, which he claimed would leave the UK in a “half-way house” outside the EU.

More here: 

Brexit secretary Dominic Raab has resigned from Theresa May's government within hours of her cabinet approving an agreement to leave the EU.

Announcing his departure on Twitter, he said: "Today, I have resigned as Brexit Secretary. I cannot in good conscience support the terms proposed for our deal with the EU."

Mr Raab's dramatic resignation will plunge Ms May's leadership into fresh crisis, and comes less than an hour after Northern Ireland minister Shailesh Vara also decided to quit in protest at her Brexit deal.

It also follows widespread speculation that furious Conservative MPs could topple Ms May by submitting enough letters of no-confidence to trigger a leadership challenge.

In his resignation letter, Mr Raab said: "I cannot support the proposed deal for two reasons. First, I believe that the regulatory regime proposed for Northern Ireland presents a very real threat to the integrity of the United Kingdom.

"Second, I cannot support an indefinite backstop arrangement, where the EU holds a veto over our ability to exit. The terms of the backstop amount to a hybrid of the EU customs union and single market obligations.

"No democratic nation has ever signed up to be bound by such an extensive regime, imposed externally without any democratic control over the laws to be applied, nor the ability to decide the exit arrangement.

Esther McVey has resigned as work and pensions secretary

Considering we're on resignation watch this morning - after two cabinet ministers have resigned from the government over Theresa May's deal - this is raising many eyebrows in Westminster.