Johnson: This is not an end but a beginning
Boris Johnson will hail ‘‘the dawn of a new era’’ for Britain today as he celebrates Brexit day with a tax cut for 31 million people.
In a broadcast to the nation at 11pm local time – the moment the UK finally breaks free of the EU – the prime minister will urge the country to look forward, not back, saying ‘‘this is not an end, but a beginning ... a moment of real national renewal and change’’.
Johnson will hold a special Cabinet meeting this morning in Sunderland, which was first to declare a Leave vote in the 2016 EU referendum, where he will tell ministers they must focus on delivering the benefits that come from Britain’s newfound freedom.
To give workers the feeling of an immediate Brexit bounce, Johnson yesterday approved an increase in the threshold at which they start paying national insurance from £8628 (NZ$17,413) to £9500 (NZ$19.172), resulting in a tax cut of £104 for a typical employee, starting in April.
Johnson also received a boost from Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, who said after meeting him in Downing Street that Britain would be ‘‘at the front of the line’’ for a transatlantic trade deal. In an interview with The Daily
Telegraph, Pompeo said Britain and the US could raise the special relationship ‘‘one last level’’ and agree a ‘‘gold standard’’ trade agreement.
He said of Brexit: ‘‘The British people wanted out of the tyranny of Brussels. They wanted the capacity to make their own decisions. We want that for the British people too.’’
Johnson’s address to the nation, recorded yesterday, will be published by Downing Street on social media, as well as being given to broadcasters, but the BBC was accused by MPs of being ‘‘churlish’’ for refusing to guarantee it would show the video in news bulletins.
The corporation is unhappy that No 10 has broken a long-standing convention that broadcasters film significant messages by prime ministers, rather than Downing Street’s in-house cameraman, and has said it will ‘‘judge it on its news value’’.
Steve Baker, the former Brexit minister, said: ‘‘It just seems churlish for the Beeb to boycott the PM.’’
With Big Ben unable to bong because of restoration work, Britain’s departure will be marked by a clock projected on to the walls of Downing Street, 47 years and 30 days after the UK joined the European Communities.
Johnson wants any celebrations to be muted.
He will say: ‘‘Our job as the Government – my job – is to bring this country together and take us forward, and the most important thing to say tonight is that this is not an end but a beginning. This is the moment when the dawn breaks and the curtain goes up on a new act. It is a moment of real national renewal and change.
‘‘This is the dawn of a new era in which we no longer accept that your life chances – your family’s life chances – should depend on which part of the country you grow up in. This is the moment when we begin to unite and level up.’’ Writing in today’s Daily Telegraph, Sajid Javid, the Chancellor, says the national insurance cut – an election manifesto pledge – proves the Conservatives ‘‘will always support the hard-working people of this country’’.
Farage will lead celebrations in Parliament Square, though without fireworks or alcohol, which have been banned in what he described as a deliberate attempt to turn the occasion into a ‘‘damp squib’’. Yesterday Johnson and Steve Barclay, the Brexit Secretary – who will be out of a job at 11pm – addressed Brexit department staff on their last day of work.