Hard Brexit looms large with resignation of UK's EU envoy

Brussels

THE chances that the UK will make a disruptive break from its biggest market have grown with the resignation of the British envoy to the European Union, an experienced Brussels insider who was reviled by leading 'Brexit' supporters.

Ivan Rogers quit as Britain's permanent representative to the 28-nation EU, urging officials working for the UK in Brussels to keep challenging "muddled thinking" from colleagues in London. He warned that the government lacked experienced negotiators, and called for stronger working relationships between Prime Minister Theresa May's London-based team and the UK's permanent post in the Belgian capital.

Supporters of as close EU ties as possible bemoaned his departure as a "body blow", while backers of a clean break from the bloc cheered his going as a sign that the UK government is committed to regaining complete control of immigration, …