New UK PM Johnson says Brexit on October 31 'no ifs or buts'

Published July 24, 2019
Britain's new Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives a speech outside 10 Downing Street in London on July 24, on the day he was formally appointed British prime minister. — AFP
Britain's new Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives a speech outside 10 Downing Street in London on July 24, on the day he was formally appointed British prime minister. — AFP

Newly-installed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday promised to deliver Brexit on October 31, “no ifs or buts”, and prove wrong “the doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters”.

Speaking outside his new Downing Street office, Johnson — who spearheaded the “Leave” campaign in the 2016 Brexit referendum — promised to do a “new deal” with Brussels.

After being formally appointed by Queen Elizabeth II, Johnson set out his mission statement, insisting that the vote to leave the European Union must be respected.

“We will do a new deal. A better deal that will maximise the opportunities of Brexit,” the 55-year-old said. “I have every confidence that in 99 days' time we will have cracked it.

“The British people have had enough of waiting.”

Read: Boris Johnson's biggest controversies

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, with his girlfriend Carrie Symonds watching with his team of aides.

“Never mind the backstop: the buck stops here,” he said.

“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.

“Brexit was a fundamental decision by the British people that they wanted their laws made by people that they elected and that they can remove from office.

“We must now respect that decision,” he said.

Opinion

Editorial

Military convictions
Updated 22 Dec, 2024

Military convictions

Pakistan’s democracy, still finding its feet, cannot afford such compromises on core democratic values.
Need for talks
22 Dec, 2024

Need for talks

FOR a long time now, the country has been in the grip of relentless political uncertainty, featuring the...
Vulnerable vaccinators
22 Dec, 2024

Vulnerable vaccinators

THE campaign to eradicate polio from Pakistan cannot succeed unless the safety of vaccinators and security personnel...
Strange claim
Updated 21 Dec, 2024

Strange claim

In all likelihood, Pakistan and US will continue to be ‘frenemies'.
Media strangulation
Updated 21 Dec, 2024

Media strangulation

Administration must decide whether it wishes to be remembered as an enabler or an executioner of press freedom.
Israeli rampage
21 Dec, 2024

Israeli rampage

ALONG with the genocide in Gaza, Israel has embarked on a regional rampage, attacking Arab and Muslim states with...