Double Brexit Blow for May After Resignation of Two Key Ministers
英国两名重量级大臣相继辞职
英国《金融时报》
UK Financial Times
2018年07月10日
10 July 2018
Theresa May has vowed to fight any attempt to oust her as UK prime minister after Boris Johnson, once seen as her strongest rival for the Conservative party leadership, quit as foreign secretary over her plan to maintain close ties to the EU after Brexit.
英国首相特里萨•梅(Theresa May)誓言要战胜任何将她赶下台的企图。此前，曾被视为她在保守党(Conservative party)领导层内最强劲对手的鲍里斯•约翰逊(Boris Johnson)辞去英国外交大臣一职，原因是她计划在英国退欧后与欧盟(EU)保持密切联系。
Mr Johnson’s resignation followed the departure on Sunday night of David Davis, the Brexit secretary, who said Mrs May’s proposal to keep Britain aligned to rules set by Brussels risked betraying the result of the 2016 referendum on EU membership.
在约翰逊辞职之前，英国退欧事务大臣戴维•戴维斯(David Davis)已于周日晚间离职。戴维斯表示，梅让英国遵守布鲁塞尔方面制定的规则的提议，可能会背叛2016年英国退欧公投的结果。
It marks the first time since 1982 that two UK cabinet ministers have resigned within 24 hours, outside of a reshuffle, and brought forward the day of reckoning for a government that has been unable to agree on its future relationship with Brussels since Mrs May ascended to the premiership two years ago.
这是自1982年以来英国首次有两名内阁大臣因重组之外的原因在24小时内辞职，使得梅领导的政府提前迎来清算日；自梅在两年前上任以来，这个政府一直无法就其与欧盟的未来关系达成一致。
Both men’s departure was triggered by Friday’s cabinet meeting at Chequers, the prime minister’s country residence, where Mrs May corralled her cabinet into supporting her soft Brexit plan, which is supported by pro-business ministers and most of the UK’s corporate leadership, who have warned against a sharp break from the EU.
上述两人离职，是由上周五在契克斯（Chequers，英国首相官方别墅）召开的内阁会议触发的。梅把她的内阁成员聚集在契克斯，争取让他们支持她的软退欧计划。该计划得到亲商的部长级官员，以及英国大多数商业领袖的支持。他们都警告英国不要同欧盟一刀两断。
Mrs May tried to assert her authority there by warning ministers that breaches of collective cabinet responsibility would no longer be tolerated. But the prime minister, who supported EU membership during the referendum, now faces an open rebellion from Eurosceptics less than nine months before Britain is due to leave the EU.
梅试图在那里维护她的权威，她警告内阁大臣们，违反内阁集体责任将不再被容忍。但是，这位在公投期间支持留在欧盟的首相，现在面临疑欧者的公开反对，而目前距离英国退欧还有不到9个月时间。
Brexit-supporting MPs celebrated the resignations, with some calling for her removal. Iain Duncan Smith, a former Conservative leader, said Mrs May’s Brexit plan “simply won’t take off”. Andrea Jenkyns said Mrs May should be replaced by “a pro-Brexit leader”.
支持退欧的议员们为前述两人的辞职而欢呼，一些人呼吁梅下台。保守党前领袖伊恩•邓肯•史密斯(Iain Duncan Smith)表示，梅的退欧计划“根本不会成功”。安德里亚•詹金斯(Andrea Jenkyns)表示，梅应该被“一位支持英国退欧的领导人”所取代。
Opposition politicians were more critical, with Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour party, saying the cabinet’s Chequers deal had taken “two years to reach and just two days to unravel”.
反对党的政客们则发出更激烈的批评。工党(Labour party)领袖杰里米•科尔宾(Jeremy Corbyn)表示，内阁的契克斯协议“花了两年时间才达成，而其解体只用了两天”。
Mrs May sought to shore up support among the hardline Brexiters by picking Dominic Raab, a prominent advocate for leaving the EU, to replace Mr Davis as Brexit secretary. A leadership challenge to Mrs May will be triggered if 48 Tory MPs request one. But the departing ministers do not appear to be acting in concert: Mr Davis questioned why Mr Johnson had resigned, saying Brexit was not “central” to his role as foreign secretary. And while Eurosceptic backbenchers, led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, could get 48 signatures to force a vote of confidence, they would struggle to win the 159 votes needed to oust the prime minister. “There is no obvious alternative [candidate],” said one MP.
梅选择了著名的退欧支持者多米尼克•拉布(Dominic Raab)接替戴维斯出任英国退欧事务大臣，以寻求获得强硬退欧派的支持。如果有48名保守党议员提出挑战梅的领导权的要求，那么挑战将被触发。但即将离任的大臣们似乎并未采取一致行动：戴维斯质疑约翰逊辞职的真正动机，称英国退欧并非他担任外交大臣的“核心”职责。以雅各布•里斯-莫格(Jacob Rees-Mogg)为首的疑欧派后座议员可能会获得48个签名，可以强行发起一次信任投票，但他们将很难赢得罢黜首相所需的159张选票。一位议员表示：“没有显而易见的替代（人选）。”
The most prominent Brexiters are now split, with environment secretary Michael Gove and international trade secretary Liam Fox remaining in post after their prominent allies departed.
最具声望的退欧派们现在分裂了，环境大臣迈克尔•戈夫(Michael Gove)和国际贸易大臣利亚姆•福克斯(Liam Fox)在他们的知名盟友辞职后继续留任。
（现任英国卫生大臣杰里米•亨特（Jeremy Hunt）将接任鲍里斯•约翰逊，成为英国新任外交大臣，编者注）
（编辑：罗立媛）