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Soon after Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid exited the United Kingdom Cabinet, five more ministers announced their resignations from the British government on Wednesday, 6 July.
Posting her resignation on Instagram, Victoria Atkins quit Boris Johnson’s government, citing the "casual mistreatment of Minister Will Quince and the revelations contained in Lord McDonald's letter."
"Values such as integrity, decency, respect and professionalism should matter to us all," Atkins said.
"I have watched with growing concern as those values have fractured under your leadership, through Patterson, Partygate and Pincher... I can no longer pirouette around our fractured values. We can and must be better than this," the Justice Minister said in her resignation.
Meanwhile, PPS in the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Felicity Buchan and Economic secretary to the Treasury John Glen have also resigned from the government, with Glen citing a “complete lack of confidence” in Boris Johnson’s leadership.
"Recent events concerning the handling of the appointment of the former Deputy Chief Whip, and the poor judgement you have shown, have made it impossible for me to square continued service with my conscience," Glen said in his resignation.
Meanwhile, Buchan called the situation "untenable," and said that PM Johnson has "lost the confidence of my constituents and me."
She further said:
Trott, on the other hand, took to Facebook to announce that she had stepped down from the Cabinet.
"I want to update you all, that I have resigned from my role as Parliamentary Private Secretary, to the Department of Transport," the MP said.
She further added, "Trust in politics is - and must always be - of the utmost importance, but sadly in recent months this has been lost."
This is the latest blow to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which came close on the heels of Sunak and Javid's resignation on Tuesday.
In a tweet, Sunak said that the public rightly expects the government to be conducted "properly, competently, and seriously." He also added that this may be his last ministerial job, and that he "believed these standards are worth fighting for."
Javid, on the other hand, had written to Johnson, saying that the former had "lost confidence" in him.
Javid, who is a British citizen of Pakistani origin, also stated, "We (Conservative party) may not have always been popular, but we have been competent in acting in the national interest. Sadly, in the current circumstances, the public are concluding that we are now neither."
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