A senior minister who quit British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Cabinet said Sunday that the government is making little or no effort to secure a Brexit agreement with the European Union, despite Johnson's insistence that he wants a deal.
Amber Rudd said "there is no evidence of a deal. There are no formal negotiations taking place."
"What we know is that Angela Merkel and the EU have said, 'give us your proposal,' and we have not given them a proposal," she told the BBC.
Treasury chief Sajid Javid insisted that the government was "straining every sinew to get a deal" and had sent British negotiator David Frost to Brussels for talks.
The EU, however, says Britain has not produced any concrete new ideas.
Rudd's resignation as work and pensions secretary late Saturday is the latest blow to the embattled British prime minister.
Johnson says Britain must leave the EU as scheduled October 31 even if there is no divorce agreement with the bloc. But his plan is meeting fierce resistance, including from some members of his own party.