Boris vows to meet Brexit deadline ? ?no ifs or buts?
 

By News DeskLONDON: Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to give the country “the leadership it deserves” and said he would meet the October 31 Brexit deadline — “no ifs or buts” — in his first speech at the helm of government.In one of his first acts, he carried out a brutal cull of Theresa May’s ministers as he formed a new government dedicated to his goal of delivering Brexit. Sajid Javid was appointed as Johnson’s Chancellor, with Brexiteers Priti Patel and Dominic Raab returning to the cabinet as Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary respectively.Raab will also be First Sectary of State, effectively making him Johnson’s Deputy PM. The appointments came after Johnson wielded the axe, with more than half of May’s cabinet either quitting or being sacked.Jeremy Hunt, Johnson’s rival in the Tory leadership race, left the government after refusing to be demoted from foreign secretary. Penny Mordaunt and Liam Fox, prominent backers of Hunt, were among the first to be sacked as Johnson carried out a radical reshaping of the cabinet.Other ministers shown the exit include Damian Hinds, Greg Clark, David Mundell, Karen Bradley, James Brokenshire, Jeremy Wright and Mel Stride. Before Johnson even took office, Philip Hammond quit as chancellor, David Gauke resigned as justice secretary and Rory Stewart left his post as international development secretary.David Lidington, May’s de facto deputy prime minister, left office at the same time as his boss while Chris Grayling resigned as transport secretary. Johnson’s first dramatic hours as Prime Minister began with a wide-ranging speech in Downing Street shortly after being asked to form a government by the Queen. Watched by girlfriend Carrie Symonds, Johnson promised he would “change this country for the better” and vowed to prove the Brexit doubters wrong.He said: “I am standing before you today, to tell you the British people, that those critics are wrong — the doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters are going to get it wrong again.”He predicted that “the people who bet against Britain are going to lose their shirts because we are going to restore trust in our democracy”. He added: “And we are going to fulfil the repeated promises of Parliament to the people and come out of the EU on October 31, no ifs or buts.“And we will do a new deal, a better deal that will maximise the opportunities of Brexit while allowing us to develop a new and exciting partnership with the rest of Europe based on free trade and mutual support. I have every confidence that in 99 days’ time we will have cracked it.”He promised action to fix the social care crisis, make the streets safe and improve the NHS. He said: “I will take personal responsibility for the change I want to see. Never mind the backstop, the buck stops here.”On the issue of the Irish border — the main stumbling block in reaching a Brexit deal — Johnson said he is “convinced” a solution could be found without checks at the border and without“that anti-democratic backstop”.But he added: “It is of course vital at the same time that we prepare for the remote possibility that Brussels refuses any further to negotiate and we are forced to come out with no deal.”In his Downing Street address, Johnson was keen to set out a domestic agenda in order to ensure his term in office is not defined by Brexit. He confirmed his campaign pledge to put another 20,000 police on the streets, he said work would start this week on 20 new hospital upgrades, and he promised to “fix the crisis in social care once and for all” with a plan to give every older person “the dignity and security they deserve”.Acknowledging the divisions in the country, Johnson said he would answer the pleas of the “forgotten people and the left behind towns”, with investment in new transport links and infrastructure.He also hailed the “awesome foursome” of the four nations of the UK — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — “who together are so much more than the sum of their parts”.Johnson faces a difficult task as he attempts to govern with a majority of just two and now a host of disaffected former ministers. His answer appears to be reuniting many of the key players from the Vote Leave referendum campaign which secured victory for Brexit in 2016.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/cwEr/~4/TXlHGzU-3c0

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