Sir Alan Duncan quits as Foreign Office minister ahead of Boris Johnson's expected arrival in Downing Street

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One of Boris Johnson’s fiercest critics quit the Government today warning how the “dark cloud of Brexit” is harming Britain.

Sir Alan Duncan resigned as Foreign Office minister just hours before the polls closed to elect the new Tory leader, who is widely expected to be Mr Johnson.

Sir Alan’s departure is the first of a string of ministers who will stand down before Mr Johnson becomes prime minister on Wednesday afternoon, unless there is a shock upset and his rival Jeremy Hunt gains the keys to No 10.

Chancellor Philip Hammond and Justice Secretary David Gauke have already confirmed they will go rather than be sacked by Mr Johnson, who has said all his Cabinet must be prepared for Britain to leave the EU by October 31, with or without a deal.

Alan Duncan (left) and Ecuador's foreign minister Jose Valencia attend a press conference on July 15
EPA

In his resignation letter, Sir Alan wrote: “The UK does so much good in the world. It is tragic that just when we could have been the dominant intellectual and political force throughout Europe, and beyond, we have had to spend every day working beneath the dark cloud of Brexit.”

Sir Alan praised Theresa May for her “faultless dignity” and an “unstinting sense of duty”.

He also told how he was “deeply upset” that attempts to secure the release of London mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe from prison in Iran, where she has been wrongly accused of spying, had been “brought to such an abrupt halt”.

Sir Alan has repeatedly criticised Mr Johnson, often in colourful terms.

David Gauke also said he would resign if Mr Johnson is named leader 
PA

Earlier this month he accused the former foreign secretary of having thrown former British ambassador to the US Sir Kim Darroch “under the bus” by not giving him firm enough backing following the leak of diplomatic cables in which Sir Kim described the Trump administration as “inept”.

In June Sir Alan described Mr Johnson as a “circus act” and last year he vowed to end his political career over his comparison of Mrs May’s Brexit deal to a “suicide vest”.

His resignation came after Mr Johnson restated his firm intention to get the UK out of the European Union by the end of October, claiming a deal with Brussels could be reached if the country has the “will” and the “drive”.

The former London mayor said that if it was possible to get to the moon and back 50 years ago then the problem of frictionless trade on the Irish border could be solved.

“If they could use hand-knitted computer code to make a frictionless re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere in 1969, we can solve the problem of frictionless trade at the Northern Irish border,” he wrote in his Daily Telegraph column today. “It is time this country recovered some of its can-do spirit. We can come out of the EU on October 31, and yes, we certainly have the technology to do so.”

Leadership contenders Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt
AFP/Getty Images

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, Democratic Unionist Party chief whip, believes technology can play a part in resolving the row over the Northern Ireland border “backstop”, one of the key reasons why Mrs May failed three times to get her Brexit plans through the Commons.

However, he added in an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: “I don’t know whether there will be enough time between now and the deadline in October to get agreement with the EU on what that technology would look like.”

Sir Alan's move was criticised by former minister Greg Hands, who said it would make a Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour government more likely.

Theresa May will tender her resignation to the Queen on Wednesday afternoon
Getty Images

Mr Hands, who is backing Mr Hunt, tweeted that pre-emptive ministerial resignations "in case your own democratically-elected party leader is not to your liking" were "absurd".

Tory MP Ben Bradley also responded saying: "Oh no. I'm devastated. Cried a river. He was such a... a... Anyway, what's for lunch? £tinyviolin."

The tweet prompted party colleague Antoinette Sandbach to reply: "What an extraordinarily low quality of new MP we have when such mean and pathetic comments are made. No wonder the party is in such a mess."

Sir Alan, who has served as Tory MP for Rutland and Melton since 1992, was appointed Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 17 July 2016.

The Remain-supporting MP was vocal in his criticism of the Brexit 'Leave' campaign, accusing it of stirring up prejudice surrounding immigration.

He described the Brexit vote as a "tantrum" by the British working class over immigration, during a speech at the Chicago Council of Global Affairs in October 2017.

The ballot of Conservative Party members will close at 5pm on Monday, with the result due to be announced on Tuesday morning.

Mrs May will tender her resignation to the Queen after taking Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons on Wednesday afternoon, with the new Tory leader set to enter Number 10 soon after.

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