Esther McVey became the third cabinet minister to resign today as the fallout from Theresa May's Brexit deal continued.

Earlier today Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and Northern Ireland Minister Shailesh Vara quit the cabinet amid a fierce backlash over the draft agreement.

Ms McVey was rumoured to be one of the most vocal critics of the deal at last night's Cabinet meeting and is understood to have asked for a show of hands from minister in support of the document.

Tatton MP Ms McVey said "it was obvious to everyone the deal "does not honour the result of the referendum" and "doesn't meet the tests you set from the outset" of Mrs May's premiership.

Esther McVey's resignation letter in full: 

"There is no more important task for this Government than delivering on the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union. This is a matter of trust. It is about the future of our country and the integrity of our democracy.

"The deal you [Theresa May] put before the Cabinet yesterday does not honour the result of the referendum. Indeed, it doesn't meet the tests you set from the outset of your premiership."

Repeatedly you have said that we must regain control of our money, our orders and our laws and develop our own independent trade policy. I have always supported you to deliver on those objectives. Even after Chequers when you knew I shared the concerns of a very significant number of colleagues, I believed that we could still work collectively to honour the will of the British people and secure the right outcome for the future of our country. This deal fails to do this.

"The proposals put before cabinet, which will soon be judged by the entire country, mean handing over around £39bn to the EU without anything in return. It will trap us in a customs union, despite you specifically promising the British people we would not be.

"It will bind the hands of not only this, but future governments in pursuing genuine free trade policies. We wouldn’t be taking back control, we would be handing over control to the EU and even to a third country for arbitration.

"It also threatens the integrity of the United Kingdom, which as a Unionist is a risk I cannot be party to.

"The British people have always been ahead of politicians o this issue, and it will be no good trying to pretend to them that this deal honours the result of the referendum when it is obvious to everyone it doesn't.

"We have gone from no deal is better than a bad deal, to any deal is better than no deal. "I cannot defend this, and I cannot vote for this deal."

"I cannot defend this, and I cannot vote for this deal. I could not look my constituents in the eye were I to do that. I therefore have no alternative but to resign from the Government.

"It has been a huge honour to serve as Secretary as State for Work and Pensions, and I am immensely proud of the part I have played in the record levels of employment we have seen in all parts of the UK. Youth unemployment is has halved since 2010, and we now have record number of women and BAME in work and since 2013, 973,000 more disabled people in work.

"With employment over 3.3 million more than in 2010 we have helped 1,000 more people into work each and every day since we took office.

"I am extremely grateful to you for appointing me to the role, and for the support you have given to me, not least in the run up to the budget, ensuring Universal Credit got a much need injection of £4.5 billion. That has made my decision a greater wrench.

"However, in politics you have to be true to the public and also true to yourself. Had I stayed in the Government and supported this deal with the EU I wouldn't be doing that."

Her announcement came minutes before a fourth minister, Suella Braverman, junior minister in the Department for Exiting the European Union, quit in protest at the deal.

Ms McVey has been Secretary of State for Work and Pensions since January this year.

She was elected MP for Tatton in 2017 having lost her Wirral West seat, which she held for five years, in 2015.

Ms McVey had always openly refused to back the Prime Minister's Brexit Chequers plan.