If Dilyn the dog and Larry the No 10 cat can get on, then so can the Tory party!
Boris signs off with bravura speech full of booster rockets, space hoppers – and a typically scholarly hint of a comeback...
BORIS Johnson left Downing Street for the last time yesterday with a parting message to warring Tories to rally behind Liz Truss.
In an early morning farewell speech on the steps of No 10, he called time on his turbulent three years in office, saying: ‘This is it folks.’
But he also appeared to mischievously hint that he could one day return.
Mr Johnson ran through his achievements, including delivering Brexit and the world’s fastest Covid vaccine rollout, as well as the West’s support for Ukraine.
Mr Johnson, who was accompanied by wife Carrie as they emerged from the famous black door, pledged his full support for Miss Truss.
In a comparison that drew laughter from a gathering of friends and allies in the street, he likened himself to a ‘booster rocket that has fulfilled its function’, saying he would now be ‘gently re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down invisibly in some remote and obscure corner of the Pacific’.
However, he also hinted at a possible comeback, saying that he was like ‘Cincinnatus returning to his plough’. Although the Roman leader retired from politics to his farm, he was later recalled to lead the republic following an invasion.
One ally said: ‘It is very unlikely he will get the chance to return and he knows that. He’s not really thinking about that right now and he wants to give Liz his full support. But if anyone could make a comeback it would be him.’
Lord Udny-Lister, who served as Mr Johnson’s chief of staff, told LBC Radio: ‘You know politics is a long-term game. A lot can happen in the years to come.’
The outgoing PM said he would be ‘offering this Government nothing but my most fervent support’, urging Tories to put differences aside like his dog Dilyn and Larry the No 10 cat. Mr Johnson gave no clue as to what he will do next. But allies expect him to take the opportunity to resume his writing career and join the international lecture circuit.
Lord Udny-Lister said: ‘He’s going to be making a lot of speeches. He’s going to get his finances back together.’ Comment – Page 20
WELL, this is it, folks. In only a couple of hours I will be in Balmoral to see Her Majesty the Queen and the torch will finally be passed to a new Conservative leader.
The baton will be handed over in what has unexpectedly turned out to be a relay race. They changed the rules halfway through but never mind that now.
And through that lacquered black door a new prime minister will go to meet a fantastic group of civil servants – the people who got Brexit done, the people who delivered the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, and never forget 70 per cent of the entire population got a dose within six months – faster than any comparable country.
That is Government for you. That’s this Conservative Government.
People who organised those prompt, early supplies of weapons to the heroic Ukrainian armed forces, an action that may very well have helped change the course of the biggest European war for 80 years.
And because of the speed and urgency of what you did – everybody involved in this Government – to get this economy moving again from July last year despite all the opposition, all the naysayers, we have, and will, continue to have that economic strength to give people the cash they need to get through this energy crisis that has been caused by Putin’s vicious war.
I know that Liz Truss and this compassionate Conservative Government will do everything we can to get people through this crisis.
And this country will endure it and we will win. And if Putin thinks he can succeed by blackmailing or bullying the British people then he is utterly deluded.
We’re delivering on those huge manifesto commitments. Neighbourhood crime down 38 per cent in the last three years; 13,790 more police on the streets, and yes, we will have 50,000 nurses by the end of the Parliament; 40 new hospitals by the end of the decade, putting record funding into our schools and into teachers’ pay.
Giving everybody over 18 a lifetime skills guarantee so they can keep upskilling throughout their lives.
Three new high-speed rail lines, including Northern Powerhouse Rail, colossal road programmes from the Pennines to Cornwall. The rollout of gigabit broadband up over the last three years.
And not just using more of our own domestic hydrocarbons, but going up by 2030 to 50 gigawatts of wind power. That is half of this country’s energy needs from offshore wind alone – a new nuclear reactor every year.
And looking at what is happening in the country, the changes that are taking place, that is why private sector investment is flooding in. More private sector, more venture capital investment than China itself. More billion pound tech companies sprouting here in the UK, than in France, Germany and Israel combined.
And as a result, unemployment down to lows not seen since I was about ten years old and bouncing around on a space hopper, my friends.
On the subject of bouncing around and future careers, let me say that I am now like one of those booster rockets that has fulfilled its function, and I will now be gently re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down invisibly in some remote and obscure corner of the Pacific.
Like Cincinnatus, I am returning to my plough. And I will be offering this Government nothing but the most fervent support. I’ll tell you why. This is a tough time for the economy. This is a tough time for families up and down the country. We can and we will get through it and we will come out stronger the other side.
But I say to my fellow Conservatives, it’s time for politics to be over, folks. It’s time for us all to get behind Liz Truss and her team and her programme and deliver for the people of this country.
BECAUSE that is what the people of this country want, that’s what they need and that’s what they deserve. I’m proud to have discharged the promises I made to my party when you were kind enough to choose me.
Winning the biggest majority since 1987, the biggest share of the vote since 1979. Delivering Brexit, delivering our manifesto commitments, including, by the way, reforming social care, helping people up and down the country, ensuring that Britain is once again standing tall in the world.
speaking with clarity and authority, from Ukraine to the Aukus pact with America and Australia. We are one whole and entire United Kingdom, whose diplomats, security services and Armed Forces are so globally admired.
And, by the way, as I leave I believe our Union is so strong that those who want to
break it up, they’ll keep trying, but they will never, ever succeed. Thank you to everybody behind me in this building. Thank you to all of you in Government. Thank you everybody who’s helped look after me and my family over the last three years, including Dilyn the dog.
And I just say to my party, if Dilyn and Larry can put behind them their occasional difficulties then so can the Conservative Party.
Above all thanks to you, the British people, to the voters for giving me the chance to serve. All of you who worked so tirelessly together to beat Covid, to put us where we are today.
Together, we have laid foundations that will stand the test of time, whether by taking back control of our laws, or putting in vital new infrastructure. Great, solid masonry on which we will continue to build together. Paving the path of prosperity now and for future generations.
And I will be supporting Liz Truss and the new Government every step of the way.