New UK leader faces Brexit struggle
LONDON – Boris Johnson took over as Britain’s prime minister Wednesday, vowing to break the impasse that defeated his predecessor by leading the country out of the European Union and silencing those he called “the doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters” who believe it can’t be done.
But the brash Brexit champion faces the same problems that flummoxed Theresa May during her three years in office: heading a government without a parliamentary majority and with most lawmakers opposed to leaving the EU without a divorce deal.
Johnson has just 99 days to make good on his promise to deliver Brexit by Oct. 31 after what he called “three years of unfounded self-doubt.”
He optimistically pledged to get “a new deal, a better deal” with the EU than the one secured by May, which was repeatedly rejected by Britain’s Parliament.
“The people who bet against Britain are going to lose their shirts,” he said, standing outside the shiny black door of 10 Downing St.
Trying to avoid the political divisions that plagued May, Johnson swept many of her ministers from office to make way for his own team, dominated by loyal Brexiteers. He appointed Sajid Javid to the key role of Treasury chief, named staunch Brexit supporter Dominic Raab as foreign secretary and made Priti Patel the new home secretary, or interior minister. Michael Gove, who ran the 2016 campaign to leave the EU alongside Johnson, also got a Cabinet job.
Over half of May’s Cabinet quit or resigned, including ex-Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Johnson’s defeated rival for the Tory leadership, who said he had turned down the chance to stay in government in a different job.
In his first speech as prime minister, Johnson offered a variety of promises – from more police on the streets to ending a ban on genetically modified crops to faster internet access.
For the 55-year-old Johnson, walking into the Downing Street residence was the culmination of a life’s ambition. The flamboyant, Latin-spouting former London mayor and foreign secretary helped lead the 2016 campaign to get Britain out of the EU and is now the darling of Brexit backers who feel frustrated that, three years later, the country is still in the bloc.
Judging by his words on Wednesday, Johnson’s approach to the EU will be a mix of charm and threats.
He vowed to keep relations with the EU “as warm and as close and as affectionate as possible” and promised the 3 million EU nationals in Britain “absolute certainty” that they can stay.
In the next breath, Johnson said Britain might be forced to leave with no deal if “Brussels refuses any further to negotiate” – trying to pin the blame for any future failure on the bloc. That’s not an approach likely to win the trust and confidence of EU leaders.
Johnson’s political opponents accused him of offering hot air.
“Rhetoric and reality are two different things,” said Labour Party Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that Johnson’s speech was “rambling, blame-shifting and, to put it mildly, somewhat divorced from reality.”