BRITISH PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson has given his first speech to the public, standing outside 10 Downing Street flanked by his new team.
In a fiery speech delivered to the hum of far-off protesters’ bellows, Johnson pledged to leave the European Union by the Brexit deadline of 31 October.
“The people who bet against Britain are going to lose their shirts.
The doubters, the doomsters are going to get it wrong again…We are going to come out of the EU on October 31 – no ifs, no buts. We will do a new deal, a better deal that will maximise the opportunities.
“I have every confidence that in 99 days time, we will have cracked it. But do you know what, we’re not going to wait 99 days because the British people have had enough of waiting.”
Both the backstop and Ireland got a mention in his first speech as premier:
Never mind the backstop, the buck stops here.
Johnson also referred to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland as “the awesome foursome,” represented by the “red white and blue flag which is so much more than the sum of its parts”.
To our friends in Ireland, I am convinced we can do a deal without checks on Irish border and without that anti-democratic backstop.
The new Conservative Party leader also made a raft of domestic policy announcements in a nearly 12-minute address.
“I will take personal responsibility for the change I want to see,” he said, promising tax reforms, better access to to GPs, and support for businesses.
“If there is one thing that has really sapped the confidence of business, it is not the decisions we have taken – it is our refusal to take decisions.
He said that the UK would have the “lubrication” of the £39 billion that the UK must pay as part of Theresa May’s divorce bill, which the EU has argued is a legal requirement.
“To those who say we cannot be ready, I say Do not underestimate this country… because we know the enormous strengths of this country.”
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