British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson attends an official dinner at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

The British government has played down U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson's proposition of building a bridge from Britain to France.

Johnson said a 22-mile crossing to connect the U.K. and France should be built across the English Channel, according to several British media reports Friday.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Theresa May was reported later to have said that there were no such plans. Speaking to CNBC, a spokesman said that plans for Johnson's bridge between the two countries had not been seen by the government, adding that the foreign secretary was referring to a panel overseeing major Anglo-French infrastructure projects.

Johnson, who has served as foreign secretary since May took power, apparently made the suggestion for a bridge across the Channel at the Sandhurst military academy in southern England on Thursday, during French President Emmanuel Macron's first official visit to the U.K.

The Daily Telegraph and Sky News reported that, when Johnson made the suggestion, Macron said: "I agree, let's do it."

According to the Telegraph, Johnson said that it was "ridiculous" the two countries were "linked by a single railway," the Eurostar.

The minister has previously supported the idea of building a road tunnel beneath the Channel, and was a big advocate for London's Garden Bridge — a failed £200 million ($278 million) project to build a bridge across the River Thames covered in trees and shrubbery — during his time as the capital's mayor.

Britain's departure from the European Union was high on the agenda during Macron's visit. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May will offer France £44.5 million ($62 million) to improve border security in Calais and other ports along the Channel, while the leaders also signed a treaty to speed up the processing of migrants in the coastal French town applying for asylum. </s> • Boris Johnson floats the idea of building a huge bridge across the English Channel.
• But Theresa May says there are no plans to do so.
• An aide to the French president dismisses the idea.



 LONDON — Theresa May has slapped down Boris Johnson's calls for a 20 mile-long bridge across the English channel, with her spokesman saying the prime minister has no plans to build one.

Asked by Business Insider whether the government would consider the idea, a spokesman for the prime minister said that "I've not seen any plans on that,"

He later added that there were "no specific plans" in place to build the bridge.

The foreign secretary last night floated the prospect of building a new link to the continent following a meeting with French president Emmanuel Macron.

However the idea was immediately savaged by leading architects and shipping experts as impractical, with an aide to Macron also dismissing the idea.

"Building a huge concrete structure in the middle of the world’s busiest shipping lane might come with some challenges," the UK Chamber of Shipping tweeted.

"It’s [one of the] world's busiest shipping lanes. Is that not enough? It would be easier, and less expensive to just move France closer," Alan Dunlop, an architect and professor at the University of Liverpool, told the Times.

An aide to Macron told the Financial Times that the two countries would be better off relying on the existing tunnel under the Channel instead.

"Only 55 per cent of Channel tunnel capacity [is] used on average — so before building a bridge, let’s use the tunnel," they said.

Downing Street said they would instead be appointing a new panel of experts to look at possible infrastructure projects.

A spokesman told BI: "What was agreed yesterday and the foreign secretary tweeted about as well is a panel of experts will look at major projects together including infrastructure and we want to work very closely with our french colleagues at building a shared prosperous future."

Johnson has previously floated large infrastructure projects that subsequently failed to materialise. A plan to build an multi-billion pound airport in the Thames Estuary was dismissed by the government as unfeasible and too expensive.

Johnson's plans to build the so-called "garden bridge" in London, were dropped by his successor as London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, over concerns about its viability, leaving Londoners with a nearly £50 million bill.

Asked whether the PM has confidence in the foreign secretary's record of delivering infrastructure projects, they replied that: "Boris Johnson is foreign secretary and doing an excellent job." </s> LONDON — As Britain prepares for its departure from the European Union, there has been ample discussion about the building of bridges as Britain finds its new place in the world.

And maybe that means building an actual bridge.

Britain’s flamboyant foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, sparked a debate about the possibility of a 22-mile bridge spanning the English Channel. Currently, the two countries are linked by an undersea rail tunnel known as the Channel Tunnel.

Johnson reportedly raised the idea of a Channel bridge with the French President Emmanuel Macron at an Anglo-French summit on Thursday.

Johnson tweeted a picture of himself and the French president, both giving a thumbs up, with the caption:

 “En marche! Great meetings with French counterparts today.”

He also said that a panel of experts had been set up to review “major projects.” He then asked: “Should the Channel Tunnel be just a first step?”

But France’s finance minister didn't foresee anyone bridging the Channel just yet.

“All ideas merit consideration, even the most far-fetched ones,” Bruno Le Maire told Europe 1 radio, according the Reuters news agency.

“We have major European infrastructure projects that are complicated to finance,” he said. “Let’s finish things that already under way before thinking of new ones.”

It wouldn’t be the longest sea bridge ever built — that honor goes to a 26-mile bridge in China that opened in 2011. But the U.K. Chamber of Shipping suggested that building a massive bridge in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes could pose difficulties.

A spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May said all ideas for big-picture projects are welcome, but questioned whether Johnson's concept for the cross-channel bridge was anything more than just a dream. “I haven’t seen any plans on that,” the spokesman said.

Others pointed out that, technically, it’s possible. And building such a crossing has been considered before. In 1981, when Margaret Thatcher’s administration was mulling designs for the Channel Tunnel, plans for a three-lane suspension bridge were submitted to transport officials.

“It’s certainly possible,” said Ian Firth, the former president of the Institution of Structural Engineers.

He said that the biggest challenge would be the risk of ships colliding with the bridge, but added that it could be dealt with using technology including artificial intelligence, GPS and “significant vessel impact protection.” He said that such an endeavor would take eight or nine years.

Nigel Farage, the former leader of the nationalist U.K. Independence party, slammed the idea as dangerous and a waste of money.

But many also questioned the motivations for floating the idea. Perhaps it was meant as a distraction from Thursday’s summit where Macron rejected special post-Brexit access for Britain’s financial services unless Britain played by the existing E.U. rules. Others ventured that Johnson, an ambitious politician, was seeking to grab headlines and possibly trying to undermine his boss.

“Boris Johnson's Channel bridge isn't infrastructure, it's an ego trip,” ran a headline in the Guardian.

Johnson has a history of proposing large-scale infrastructure projects that have not taken off. He campaigned heavily for an airport in the Thames estuary, dubbed “Boris Island” by the British media, which was discarded in favor of building a third runway at Heathrow airport. He also backed a garden bridge across the River Thames, a floral crossing that some said could be London’s answer to New York’s High Line. It was scrapped by Sadiq Khan, Johnson’s successor at City Hall. </s> Theresa May's convoy of vehicles has been involved in a crash in Belgium.

The crash happened on the E42 motorway in Belgium, dhnet reports.

The incident took place while Mrs May was reportedly en route to an Armistice Day memorial.

Two police motorcycles were knocked over by a car in the collision and the officers were taken to hospital.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel was also at the scene.

Neither Prime Minister was injured in the accident.

Agreement on a Brexit deal with Brussels will create a "new dynamic" in Parliament which would help secure support for Theresa May's plans, a key ally of the Prime Minister has claimed.

The fragile alliance keeping the Prime Minister in power has been strained as the Democratic Unionist Party railed against measures it fears will create a border down the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

But David Lidington, Mrs May's de facto deputy prime minister, said he hoped that once a deal was on the table MPs would rally behind it.

Hopes of an imminent breakthrough in the Brexit negotiations have so far failed to be met.

But both Mr Lidington and Ireland's Leo Varadkar suggested a deal could be reached between the UK and EU in the coming weeks.

The Taoiseach said: "A successful outcome is not guaranteed but I think it is possible in the next couple of weeks."

Tensions between Mrs May and her DUP allies have been exposed amid concerns about measures aimed at avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland.

DUP leader Arlene Foster said the Prime Minister appeared "wedded to the idea of a border down the Irish Sea" despite Downing Street's repeated assurances to the contrary.

The response of the DUP has caused frustration in Downing Street, with sources insisting that Mrs May was not hiding behind "weasel words" and had stressed that she would not accept a deal which saw Northern Ireland hived off.

A leaked letter from the Prime Minister in reply to an earlier message from Mrs Foster and her deputy, Nigel Dodds, set out Mrs May's approach.

She wants a "backstop" measure which would create a temporary "joint customs territory" with the EU for the whole of the UK.

But Brussels appears set to insist on a Northern Ireland-only "backstop to the backstop" in case negotiations on a wider UK approach break down or any time limit on it expires.

In the letter, obtained by the Times, Mrs May said: "I am clear that I could not accept there being any circumstances or conditions in which that 'backstop to the backstop', which would break up the UK customs territory, could come in to force."

But she acknowledged that the "unique circumstances" of Northern Ireland "could require specific alignment solutions in some scenarios" on regulations.

The scope of any alignment with Brussels' rules would be limited to what is "strictly necessary" to avoid a hard border.

The DUP has interpreted the wording of her letter to mean that specific Northern Ireland measures will be contained in the Brexit divorce deal despite Mrs May's assurances.

Mrs Foster said: "It appears the Prime Minister is wedded to the idea of a border down the Irish Sea with Northern Ireland in the EU single market regulatory regime."

DUP Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme "we want to trust the Prime Minister" but "you have to judge any promise by what is actually delivered in an agreement".

The party's Westminster leader, Mr Dodds, warned on Sky News: "I think the Prime Minister will hopefully realise what can be got through parliament and what can't."

Any version of the backstop would apply unless and until a wider UK-EU deal on the future relationship solved the issue of how to avoid a hard border with Ireland.

The Prime Minister relies on the support of the DUP's 10 MPs for her Commons majority, votes which will be crucial as she attempts to get a deal through Parliament.

At the British-Irish Council summit in the Isle of Man, Mr Lidington said: "The Prime Minister has always been very clear we won't accept something that involves carving out Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK."

He said a UK-EU deal would involve "compromises, give and take on all sides" but when faced with "product on the table" in the form of an agreement backed by all 28 governments there could be a shift in attitude at Westminster.

"People will need to ask themselves what is it that is going to be in the best interests of those who sent them to Westminster to represent them, to ensure that we maintain living standards and investment and prosperity and employment in our country.

"I hope and I believe that we can secure that majority in Parliament for the agreement."

Mr Varadkar, who was also at the Isle of Man summit, said "it is more likely than not that we will be able to conclude an agreement" in the coming weeks but "lots of things can go wrong" - including having to get a deal through Westminster and the European Parliament.

"Even when all of that is done, then we begin the talks on the future relationship," he added.

"There is no clean break here, Brexit is going to go on for a very long time." </s> British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has attacked Prime Minister Theresa May's plan for a customs partnership with the European Union after the U.K. leaves the bloc — the latest outbreak of discord within the government over Brexit.

Johnson told Tuesday's edition of the Daily Mail newspaper that the partnership idea was "crazy" and would create a "whole new web of bureaucracy."

The comments come after May's Cabinet last week failed to agree on a proposal for Britain's future customs relationship with the EU. May's preferred option is a partnership under which the U.K. would collect import duties on behalf of the EU for goods arriving at British ports.

Johnson said May's idea was "totally untried and would make it very, very difficult to do free trade deals."

His dismissal of the proposal stands in marked contrast to comments by Business Secretary Greg Clark on Sunday that the customs partnership option was still being considered by the government.

May's Cabinet is split between ministers including Johnson who favor a clean-break "hard Brexit," which would leave Britain freer to strike new trade deals around the world, and those including Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond who want to keep closely aligned to the EU, Britain's biggest trading partner.

The two sides remain at loggerheads, almost two years after Britain voted to leave the EU and less than a year before it officially exits the bloc on March 29, 2019.

That has led May, who heads an unstable minority government, to put off taking a firm stand on key Brexit issues for as long as possible — to the frustration of EU leaders, who have warned repeatedly that time is running short to strike a deal. </s> Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson ‘got a complete bitch slap’ from Theresa May after stepping out of line to call for more NHS funding, apparently.

Yesterday Johnson was put back in his place by the PM twice, and by other ministers including Philip Hammond and Jeremy Hunt for his public plea for the health service.

One cabinet minister went as far to say that Boris ‘got a complete bitch slap’, twice by the PM, report ITV, before he was slapped down by other cabinet ministers.

Johnson’s plea, widely perceived as a power play, was publicly rubbished by the chancellor, who reminded him he was in fact the foreign secretary, and not the health secretary.

May has now warned ministers that Cabinet discussions should remain private after Johnson let it slip that he intended to use the weekly meeting to press for an additional £5 billion for the NHS after Brexit.

As ministers gathered in No 10, Johnson was pre-empted by the PM who told the meeting any ‘Brexit dividend’ would be allocated according to the Government’s priorities – including schools and housing as well as health.

In the hour-long discussion that followed, there appeared to be exasperation at Johnson’s latest intervention, with ministers backing May’s view that their talks should remain confidential.

Although there was frustration at the way Johnson broke ranks, it is understood there was some support around the Cabinet for his position.

The Foreign Secretary’s fellow Vote Leave campaigners Michael Gove and Chris Grayling supported his call for the NHS to benefit from the ‘Brexit dividend’, and Health and Social Care Secretary Jeremy Hunt would also welcome extra funding.

Downing Street made clear that senior ministers had concerns about the privacy of Cabinet talks.

‘The Prime Minister and a large number of ministers made the point that Cabinet discussions should remain private,’ the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.

The spokesman said that while most members had contributed to the discussion, no minister had mentioned a ‘specific number in relation to NHS funding’.

Former minister Anna Soubry warned May Johnson would bring her down unless she sacked him.

Ms Soubry, a prominent pro-EU campaigner, said the time had come for the Prime Minister to get rid of him.

He had shown ‘longstanding incompetence and disloyalty’ and unless May acts now ‘Boris will bring her down’, she said. </s> Conservative lawmaker Dominic Raab arrives at 10 Downing Street, London, Wednesday, July 24, 2019. Boris Johnson has replaced Theresa May as Prime Minister, following her resignation last month after Parliament repeatedly rejected the Brexit withdrawal agreement she struck with the European Union. Johnson seems to be clearing out top ministers, firing several members of former leader Theresa May’s Cabinet. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

LONDON (AP) — The latest on Boris Johnson officially becoming Britain’s new prime minister (all times local):

Australia’s prime minister has congratulated Boris Johnson and hopes to ink one of Britain’s first bilateral trade deals after Brexit.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday he and Johnson are both looking forward to meeting at the Group of 7 summit in France next month and to “moving very quickly, when the opportunity presents” to reach a trade deal.

Morrison told reporters that “this is a time of change for the United Kingdom” and Johnson “will bring a new opportunity … to resolve what had been some very difficult issues.”

Morrison says it is in the interests of the “broader global economy” that Britain and Europe resolve outstanding Brexit issues.

Dominic Raab has been named Britain’s foreign secretary, the country’s top diplomat and one of the most senior roles in government.

Raab was appointed as new Prime Minister Boris Johnson assembles a Cabinet he hopes can help him deliver Brexit. Raab is a former Brexit secretary and a staunch supporter of Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay is keeping his job in the government shakeup.

Michael Gove, who ran the 2016 campaign to leave the EU alongside Johnson before the pair fell out, was named Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, a powerful Cabinet post with no specific portfolio.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has appointed Sajid Javid the country’s new Treasury chief, one of the most senior jobs in Cabinet.

Javid will be responsible for spending and economic policy in Johnson’s government.

Javid, a former banker and ex-home secretary, is the first ethnic minority politician to hold the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Johnson is forming his Cabinet after taking office on Wednesday. He has cleared out many of the ministers who served under predecessor Theresa May. More than half have either quit or been fired.

Jeremy Hunt says he’s leaving the job of foreign secretary as new Prime Minister Boris Johnson sweeps into office with a fresh team at the top.

Hunt’s position had been closely watched. He had challenged Johnson for the job of Conservative leader, and says he wanted to stay on as foreign secretary. But Hunt says Johnson offered another role.

Hunt tweeted that “after 9 yrs in Cabinet & over 300 cab mtgs now is the time to return 2 backbenches from where PM will have my full support.”

Former Prime Minister Theresa May’s secretaries in defense, business, education, transport, local government and international trade have all announced they are leaving the government. Treasury chief Philip Hammond, Justice Secretary David Gauke, International Development Secretary Rory Stewart and May’s de-facto deputy, David Lidington, resigned.

New Prime Minister Boris Johnson seems to be clearing out top ministers, firing several members of former leader Theresa May’s Cabinet.

So far, May’s secretaries in defense, business, education, transport, local government and international trade have all announced they are leaving government. That comes hours after Treasury chief Philip Hammond, Justice Secretary David Gauke, International Development Secretary Rory Stewart and May’s de-facto deputy, David Lidington, resigned.

Some of those leaving had said they would rather go than serve under Johnson, who wants to leave the European Union even if no Brexit agreement is in place to ease the transition. Johnson insists the country will leave the EU by Oct. 31 — “do or die.”

However many British lawmakers, including some in Johnson’s Conservative party, worry that the shock of severing decades of frictionless trade would devastate the country’s economy.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she wishes new British Prime Minister Boris Johnson much luck and success and is looking forward to “good cooperation and further deepening of our bilateral relations.”

Merkel said in a statement Wednesday that the relationship of Germany and Britain is “shaped by deep friendship and close partnership.”

She wrote “we’re connected by personal relations of people, economic ties between companies, our united engagement for a rule-based international order as well as our common European heritage.”

Britain’s new Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed the U.K. will leave the European Union on Oct. 31 — “no ifs, ands or buts.”

Speaking just moments after Queen Elizabeth II asked him to form a government Wednesday, Johnson sought to persuade the public to back him — saying that the time has come to act on the nation’s departure from the European Union.

In his first speech as leader outside 10 Downing Street, Johnson says “he will get ‘a new deal, a better deal’ from the EU on Brexit.

He added that while there will be difficulties, much of the nation’s confidence has been sapped by the refusal to take action.

Johnson left Buckingham Palace after being appointed by Queen Elizabeth II. The palace confirmed that Johnson had been appointed “as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury,” another of the British leader’s titles.

He visited the palace to meet with the monarch Wednesday after predecessor Theresa May resigned, failing to secure parliamentary approval for her deal to leave the European Union.

Johnson is going to 10 Downing St. to start work on forming his new administration.

Greenpeace climate protesters have interrupted the motorcade of Boris Johnson as he was traveling to Buckingham Palace to meet with Queen Elizabeth II to get the nod to form a government.

Demonstrators in red shirts and sashes formed a human chain on The Mall, a road leading to the palace, prompting a police officer on a motorcycle to stop just in front of them. Other demonstrators unfurled a banner reading “Climate Emergency.”

The chain was broken when another officer came up from behind and pushed the demonstrators to the side of the road.

Greenpeace said in a statement that U.K. Executive Director John Sauven attempted to hand Johnson Greenpeace’s 134 point Climate Emergency manifesto, which detailed “the wide-ranging policies the new administration must implement to prevent catastrophic climate breakdown.”

Buckingham Palace says that Theresa May has tendered her resignation to Queen Elizabeth II, clearing the way for Boris Johnson to become the new prime minister of the United Kingdom.

The monarch accepted, setting in train the handover of power.

Johnson arrived at the palace a short time later on Wednesday, having been briefly interrupted by climate protesters who formed a human chain attempting to stop his motorcade.

Theresa May has left 10 Downing St. for the final time as prime minister and is heading for Buckingham Palace to resign.

In a formal handover of power, May will ask Queen Elizabeth II to invite her successor Boris Johnson to form a government. Johnson will then visit the palace, and leave as Britain’s new prime minister.

May is stepping down after failing to secure lawmakers’ support for a Brexit deal and lead Britain out of the European Union.

In a final speech outside 10 Downing St. with husband Philip by her side, May said it had been “the greatest honor” to serve as Britain’s prime minister.

And she said “I hope that every young girl who has seen a woman prime minister now knows for sure there are no limits to what they can achieve.”

Senior members of Prime Minister Theresa May’s government, including her Treasury chief Philip Hammond, are resigning just hours before Conservative Party leader Boris Johnson succeeds her.

The departures clear the way for Johnson to appoint a raft of fresh faces to his government.

Justice Secretary David Gauke and International Development Secretary Rory Stewart have also resigned.

The three had previously announced they would rather leave rather than serve Johnson, who wants to leave the European Union even if no agreement is in place to ease the transition to a new relationship between Britain and the bloc. He insists that the country will leave the EU by Oct. 31 — “do or die.”

Many lawmakers worry the shock of severing decades of frictionless trade would devastate the country’s economy.

David Lidington, effectively May’s deputy prime minister, also resigned, saying it was “the right moment.” to go. He had not previously pre-announced his departure.

A Russian Foreign Ministry official says no immediate changes in relations with Britain are expected upon Boris Johnson becoming Britain’s new prime minister.

Andrei Kelin, head of the ministry’s European cooperation department, said Wednesday that “I don’t think that something will change in the near future, because Boris Johnson belongs to the team that has spoiled these relations for quite a long time.”

Moscow-London relations have plummeted since the nerve agent poisoning of a Russian former double agent and his daughter in the town of Salisbury last year. Britain blames the poisoning on Russian military intelligence.

Prime Minister Theresa May says she’s glad her successor, Boris Johnson, is committed to “delivering on the vote of the people in 2016” to leave the European Union.

May offered muted praise of the incoming leader in her last Prime Minister’s Questions session in the House of Commons. She said she was pleased to be handing power to another Conservative leader.

After Wednesday’s question period, May will travel to Buckingham Palace and submit her resignation to Queen Elizabeth II. Johnson, who won a contest to replace her as Conservative leader, will become prime minister later in the day.

May said she would “continue my duties in this House from the back benches” as an ordinary lawmaker.

May shook her head at a suggestion from Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn that she join opposition attempts to stop the “reckless” Johnson, who has vowed to take Britain out of the EU with or without a divorce deal.

The European Parliament is warning new Boris Johnson, who in a few hours is set to become British prime minister, not to count on any renegotiation of the Brexit deal that his predecessor Theresa May negotiated with the EU.

The legislature’s Brexit steering group said in a statement that the statements made by Johnson during his campaign to lead the Conservative Party “have greatly increased the risk of a disorderly exit of the UK.”

It adds that a no-deal exit would be “economically very damaging, even if such damage would not be inflicted equally on both parties.”

The group, including the top Brexit legislators, held talks in a conference call the day after Johnson won the race to succeed May, who is due to quit as prime minister in the next couple of hours.

Johnson has said he would take the UK out of the EU on the Brexit departure date of Oct. 31 “come what may.”

Incoming British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is assembling his top team, with a key job set to go to a controversial figure from the country’s Brexit referendum campaign.

Johnson’s allies say Dominic Cummings, director of the “Vote Leave” campaign in the 2016 referendum, will become a senior adviser to the prime minister.

Cummings has been both praised and criticized for his work as the campaign’s lead strategist. Lawmakers and electoral officials have investigated Vote Leave’s links to the firm Cambridge Analytica, which harvested Facebook users’ data to help political campaigns.

Cummings — who was played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the TV drama “Brexit: The Uncivil War” — was found to be in contempt of Parliament earlier this year for refusing to give evidence to a committee of lawmakers investigating “fake news.”

Boris Johnson is set to form a “cabinet for modern Britain” as he prepares to become prime minister following his victory in an election to lead the governing Conservatives.

The incoming leader has just over three months to make good on his promise to lead the U.K. out of the European Union by Oct. 31.

Johnson easily defeated Conservative rival Jeremy Hunt, winning two-thirds of the votes of about 160,000 party members across the U.K. He becomes prime minister once Queen Elizabeth II formally asks him to form a government.

He will replace Theresa May, who announced her resignation last month after Parliament repeatedly rejected the withdrawal agreement she struck with the 28-nation bloc.

For more on AP’s Brexit coverage, https://www.apnews.com/Brexit </s> LONDON — A political crisis threatening Prime Minister Theresa May's government deepened Monday after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson resigned hours after Britain's top negotiator for the country’s exit from the European Union unexpectedly quit.

Both resignations came after May unveiled proposals for Britain's Brexit strategy, adding pressure for May to step down. She could also be ousted in a leadership challenge by her ruling Conservative Party.

The well-known, flamboyant Johnson and senior negotiator David Davis were leading figures in the 2016 referendum campaign in favor of Brexit, and both heavily favor a strong break — a "hard Brexit" — in trade ties with the EU.

May’s office said the prime minister accepted Johnson’s resignation and would soon name a replacement.

It comes as May plans to meet with world leaders at the NATO summit Wednesday and Thursday, followed by a Friday meeting with President Donald Trump in and around London.

The White House said Trump’s visit to London remains scheduled for Thursday and Friday despite the political turmoil. “The president continues to look forward to his working visit with the prime minister on July 13, and further strengthening the U.S.-U.K. special relationship,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.

Shortly after Johnson quit, May defended her Brexit plan, telling lawmakers in the House of Commons it was the "only way to avoid a hard border" between the United Kingdom's Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. Uncertainty over tariffs and immigration checks at the border has been a major stumbling block in negotiations between Britain and the EU.

Johnson's resignation came after he reportedly described May's plans for a "soft Brexit" that would preserve close trade ties with the 28-nation bloc to "polishing a turd."

"Luckily, we have some expert turd-polishers in this government," Johnson told May last week at a Brexit summit at Chequers, her country retreat, British media reported.

Davis resigned Sunday after claiming that May is undermining Brexit with her proposals for a "soft Brexit."

In his resignation letter, Davis cited irreconcilable differences with May over her plan to keep trade and customs similar to existing ones with the EU that "will leave us in at best a weak negotiating position, and possibly an inescapable one."

Dominic Raab, a Brexit supporter who was previously the housing minister, was named as Davis' replacement.

The moves by Johnson and Davis destabilize May's already fragile coalition government just days after the British leader announced she had finally united her fractious Cabinet behind a plan for a divorce deal with the EU.

Brexit is due to take place by March 2019. The EU has not signed off on any of May's latest proposals. In fact, the EU has repeatedly warned Britain that time is running out to seal a divorce deal.

British Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis departs Downing Street following a cabinet meeting in London, Britain, July 3, 2018.

"The mess caused by Brexit is the biggest problem in the history of EU-U.K. relations and it is still very far from being resolved, with or without Mr. Davis," European Council President Donald Tusk said Monday.

The resignations are a major blow to May because she was been trying to win over members of Parliament who are skeptical of her proposal that would keep Britain in a free-trade zone with the EU and avoid tariffs and border checks for goods. Davis was a strong voice who favored a clean break so Britain could strike new trade deals around the world.

May "has no authority left and is incapable of delivering Brexit," tweeted Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party. "With her government in chaos, if she clings on, it's clear she's more interested in hanging on for her own sake than serving the people of our country."

Britain needs to reach a Brexit deal with the EU before March 29, 2019, in order to establish trade, security, immigration and other ties with the bloc. If Britain fails to secure an agreement in time, tariffs would be imposed on U.K. goods exported to the EU, and vice versa, under World Trade Organization rules.

In theory, Britain would also have no legal obligation to contribute to the EU's budget, according to a parliamentary report. More worrisome are the residency and working rights of 3 million EU nationals in Britain that could suddenly end.

More: Airbus threatens to leave Britain in case of no-deal Brexit </s> Boris Johnson's planned ambush of Prime Minister Theresa May over diverting £100m of Brexit dividends to the NHS during Cabinet has failed.

Not only did the foreign secretary not have the opportunity to press for a specific sum to be deployed into the pressured health service, he was also reminded that he should not be discussing what is talked about in Cabinet meetings.

A government spokesman this afternoon said: "The Prime Minister, and a large number of Cabinet ministers, made the point that Cabinet discussions should take place in private."

He added that during the hour-long conversation about the NHS this morning, "no ministers discussed specific figures in relation to NHS spend". While Johnson's allies had been briefing that he would lead an ambush against the Prime Minister, it was May who introduced the topic and health secretary Jeremy Hunt who led the conversation, which was characterised as "constructive".

May did reiterate her commitment to deploy any new funds unlocked by Brexit to the three priorities - housing, schools and the NHS - as well as any other issues that may become pressing in the meantime. She also pointed to the £6bn additional funding announced "just a few weeks ago" during the Budget, the spokesman added.

Earlier in the day, chancellor Philip Hammond had made clear his views on the matter by responding to a question about Johnson's intervention by saying: "Mr Johnson is the foreign secretary.

"I gave the health secretary [Jeremy Hunt] an extra £6bn at the recent budget and we will look at departmental allocations again at the spending review when that takes place."

Hammond did not attend Cabinet as he is in Europe attending a regular meeting of finance ministers.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Theresa May says the government has seen no plans for Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson's idea of building a road bridge across the English Channel between France and the United Kingdom.