David Davis accuses Theresa May of 'giving away too much, too easily' in Brexit talks after shock resignation

Ex-Brexit secretary says prime minister is falsely 'painting' her Chequers agreement as 'returning control, to the House of Commons'

David Davis has accused Theresa May of “giving away too much, too easily” in the Brexit talks, but denied his dramatic resignation was intended to topple her.

Explaining his bombshell late-night walkout, the former Brexit secretary said the prime minister was misleading the country by claiming her Chequers agreement would allow the UK to take back control.

Mr Davis attacked the plan for agreeing a “common rule book” with the EU on goods, which Britain could only break free from only by accepting economic damage later on.

Warning parliament would be “under a sword of Damocles”, he said: “It’s illusory rather than real – that’s the problem.

“This is painting something as returning sovereignty, returning control, to the House of Commons. In practice, it actually isn’t doing so.”

The EU “writes the rules for us” he argued, warning disputes would be settled in the European Court of Justice because “that’s where the arbitration system will end up”.

“My fear is that they will take what we have offered already and then demand some more - that’s been their practice throughout the last year,” Mr Davis said.

With words that will become a rallying cry for pro-Brexit Tories, he added: “It seems to me we are giving too much away too much, too easily, and that’s a dangerous strategy.”

However, Mr Davis denied he had quit in order to bring down the prime minister, insisted he was not a rival leader and did not want other Tory MPs to challenge her.

“I like Theresa May, I think she’s a good prime minister,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme

Asked if she was “weakened”, making a leadership challenge likely, Mr Davis replied “No no,” adding: “I won’t be encouraging people to do that. I think it’s the wrong thing to do.”

He said he his resignation was only intended to “put pressure on the government not to make any further concessions”.

Nevertheless, his walkout - shortly before midnight on Sunday, swiftly followed by fellow Brexit minister Steve Baker – is a devastating blow to Ms May’s already weakened authority.

It has left other anti-EU ministers weighing up whether to follow suit in an attempt to bring her down and reimpose a hard Brexit strategy.

There are also growing doubts about whether the prime minister has the votes to push her Brexit plan through parliament this autumn, assuming a deal can be reached with the EU.

Today, Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Tories' most influential back-bench Eurosceptic said he would be joining Labour in voting against the “defeatist” proposal - suggesting other Tory Eurosceptic MPs would do the same.

“If the proposals are as they currently appear, I will vote against them and others may well do the same,” Mr Rees-Mogg wrote in The Daily Telegraph.

It raises the prospect of Brexiteer Tories joining forces with opposition parties to throw out the deal – with different aims, but with the result of leaving Brexit in paralysis.

Later today, Ms May will make a statement to the Commons on the Chequers plan, before facing her angry backbenches again when she speaks to a meeting of the 1922 committee.