Iran News quotes CNN reports. On Wednesday at a recent meeting in Brussels Johnson said if Brexit talks fail ‘no deal’ is the alternative. Boris Johnson’s first speech as leader: A verdict Boris Johnson’s first speech as Prime Minister to his Conservative party faithful went down well enough. But it might have left supporters who […]
Iran News quotes CNN reports. On Wednesday at a recent meeting in Brussels Johnson said if Brexit talks fail ‘no deal’ is the alternative.
Boris Johnson’s first speech as leader: A verdict
Boris Johnson’s first speech as Prime Minister to his Conservative party faithful went down well enough. But it might have left supporters who have wanted him to lead their party for years feeling a little flat.
In some respects, it was classic Johnson.
The UK will leave the EU on October 31, “come what may.”
There were spending pledges for his domestic audience and attacks on the leader of the opposition Labour party as “fratricidal anti-Semitic Marxists.”
It was a feel-good speech, rather than a policy heavy speech.
Johnson played up the prospect of leaving without a deal – something that goes down well with the Conservative party membership. But he also said that “this is not an anti-European party and it is not an anti-European country. We love Europe. We are European.”
This was somewhat less appreciated by the membership than the revelation that Johnson’s mother voted for Brexit.
Johnson has on the whole had a good first conference as leader. However, one thing that scares the Brexit-supporting party membership is whether Johnson will sell them out when the going gets tough.
This speech will have done little to reassure them that Johnson is 100% on their side.
Meanwhile in Brussels…
Mina Andreeva, the chief spokesperson for the European Commission, said the EU will look at Boris Johnson’s new proposal “objectively.”
“We want to enter into constructive discussions. We are working for a deal and any deal should of course be a good deal,” she said.
Andreeva added the Commission’s President Jean-Claude Juncker is set to have a phone call with Johnson later Wednesday.
“Once received we will examine it objectively and in light of our well-known criteria. We will listen very carefully to the United Kingdom,” she said.
Johnson: If Brexit talks fail ‘no deal’ is the alternative
Boris Johnson said that if the EU rejects his Brexit proposal, the alternative is a no-deal Brexit.
The Prime Minister insisted that if talks fail over the sticky Irish border issue, there is “no doubt that the alternative is no deal.”
“That is not an outcome we want. It is not an outcome we seek at all,” he said, adding that the UK is nevertheless ready for a no-deal outcome.
