Johnson vows UK will leave EU ‘no ifs or buts’
LONDON — Britain’s new Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed the U.K. will leave the European Union on Oct. 31 — “no ifs, ands or buts.”
Speaking just moments after Queen Elizabeth II asked him to form a government Wednesday, Johnson sought to persuade the public to back him — saying that the time has come to act on the nation’s departure from the European Union.
In his first speech as leader outside 10 Downing Street, Johnson says “he will get ‘a new deal, a better deal’ from the EU on Brexit.
He added that while there will be difficulties, much of the nation’s confidence has been sapped by the refusal to take action.
Johnson left Buckingham Palace after being appointed. The palace confirmed that Johnson had been appointed “as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury,” another of the British leader’s titles.
He visited the palace to meet with the monarch Wednesday after predecessor Theresa May resigned, failing to secure parliamentary approval for her deal to leave the European Union.
Johnson is going to 10 Downing St. to start work on forming his new administration.
Motorcade interrupted
Greenpeace climate protesters have interrupted the motorcade of Boris Johnson as he was traveling to Buckingham Palace to meet with Queen Elizabeth II to get the nod to form a government.
Demonstrators in red shirts and sashes formed a human chain on The Mall, a road leading to the palace, prompting a police officer on a motorcycle to stop just in front of them. Other demonstrators unfurled a banner reading “Climate Emergency.”
The chain was broken when another officer came up from behind and pushed the demonstrators to the side of the road.
Greenpeace said in a statement that U.K. Executive Director John Sauven attempted to hand Johnson Greenpeace’s 134 point Climate Emergency manifesto, which detailed “the wide-ranging policies the new administration must implement to prevent catastrophic climate breakdown.”
May leaves 10 Downing St.
Theresa May has left 10 Downing St. for the final time as prime minister and is heading for Buckingham Palace to resign.
In a final speech outside 10 Downing St. with husband Philip by her side, May said it had been “the greatest honor” to serve as Britain’s prime minister.
And she said “I hope that every young girl who has seen a woman prime minister now knows for sure there are no limits to what they can achieve.”
Senior members resign
Senior members of Prime Minister Theresa May’s government, including her Treasury chief Philip Hammond, are resigning just hours before Johnson succeeds her.
The departures clear the way for Johnson to appoint a raft of fresh faces to his government.
Justice Secretary David Gauke and International Development Secretary Rory Stewart have also resigned.
The three had previously announced they would rather leave rather than serve Johnson.
Many lawmakers worry the shock of severing decades of frictionless trade would devastate the country’s economy.
David Lidington, effectively May’s deputy prime minister, also resigned, saying it was “the right moment” to go. He had not previously pre-announced his departure.
Russia expects same relations
A Russian Foreign Ministry official says no immediate changes in relations with Britain are expected upon Boris Johnson becoming Britain’s new prime minister.
Andrei Kelin, head of the ministry’s European cooperation department, said Wednesday that “I don’t think that something will change in the near future, because Boris Johnson belongs to the team that has spoiled these relations for quite a long time.”
Moscow-London relations have plummeted since the nerve agent poisoning of a Russian former double agent and his daughter in the town of Salisbury last year. Britain blames the poisoning on Russian military intelligence.
