Newly-appointed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to take his country out of the European Union within the next 99 days.
“We will come out on 31 October, no ifs and no buts,” Boris Johnson said in his first public speech as prime minister on Wednesday. “The British people are tired of waiting. The time has come to act.”
Johnson promised “a new deal and a better deal,” which echoes the advice President Donald Trump gave outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May.
The prime minister warned that the UK will withhold 39 billion pounds (or $49 billion) in a “divorce settlement” imposed by the EU if Brussels refuses to offer better terms than the ones on the table.
“Don’t forget that in the event of a no deal outcome we will have that extra lubrication of the £39 billions,” he added.
The UK newspaper Evening Standard reported PM’s defiant speech:
Britain will leave the EU “no ifs or buts” by October 31, new Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared today as he unveiled his vision to re-energise the country.Standing in Downing Street, he vowed to strike a new agreement with Brussels in just 99 days – if not he would seek to take the UK out of the European bloc with No Deal.“After three years of unfounded self-doubt it is time to change the record, to recover our natural and historic role as an enterprising outward-looking and truly global Britain,” he said.In typically colourful language, he continued: “No-one in the last few centuries has succeeded in betting against the pluck and nerve and ambition of this country. They will not succeed today.”On Brexit, he vowed that the UK will leave the EU in just over three months’ time, despite Brussels showing no signs of being willing to change the Withdrawal Agreement and a majority of MPs, including dozens of Tories, believed to be determined to stop a No Deal.
Displaying his earnest intent to implement the Brexit, Johnson reshuffled the Cabinet, giving important portfolios to pro-Brexit politicians. He appointed ‘no-deal’ Brexit supporter Dominic Raab the new Foreign Secretary and de-facto Deputy Prime Minister. Priti Patel, often dubbed by the mainstream media as “a hardcore Brexiter,” will become the new Home Secretary. The leading Brexit campaigner Michael Gove will move in as the new chief Cabinet Office adviser.
This line-up is in sharp contrast to PM May’s Cabinet, which excluded most of the pro-Brexit Conservative MPs. She campaigned to keep Britain in the EU in the run-up to the 2016 referendum.
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage remained skeptical despite the change of guard in 10 Downing Street. The Farage-led Brexit Party came out victorious in the UK’s European elections in May, winning 32 percent of the vote, as compared to just 9 percent secured by PM May’s Conservatives.
“Theresa May told us 108 times we were leaving on March 29 and we didn’t, so just because Boris says we’re leaving on the 31 October doesn’t mean we’re going to,” he said. “I don’t believe a single word the Conservative Party tell us.”
President Trump had expressed support for Johnson during the leadership contest within the ruling Conservative party. The Tory contestant was an “excellent” choice who “would do a good job” as a likely successor to PM May, he said last month. PM May was forced to step down after three years of failed negotiations with the EU, and her party’s slipping popularity among voters.
Nigel Farage on PM Johnson’s Brexit policy
[Cover image via YouTube]
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