PM hails overwhelming mandate but seeks to heal Brexit divisions
BORIS JOHNSON has pledged to heal the divisions of Brexit, as he returned to Downing Street after securing a crushing General Election victory over Labour.
Speaking on the steps of No 10 after a string of Labour strongholds fell to the Tories, the prime minister said he had an ‘overwhelming mandate’ to take Britain out of the EU by the end of January.
But at the same time he sought to reach out to remainers, insisting his ‘One Nation’ government would never ignore their feelings of ‘warmth and sympathy’ towards the other nations of Europe.
‘Now is the moment, precisely as we leave the EU, to let those natural feelings find renewed expression in building a new partnership,’ he said.
‘I frankly urge everyone on either side of what are, after three-and-a-half years, increasingly arid argument, I urge everyone to find closure and to let the healing begin.’
With all 650 seats declared, the Conservatives had a majority of 80 — the party’s strongest election performance since Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.
The prime minister is now expected to reintroduce his Brexit deal in the Commons next week following the Queen’s Speech and State Opening of Parliament on Thursday.
The result plunged Labour into turmoil, with Jeremy
Corbyn announcing he would not take the party into the next general election after seeing a string of former strongholds fall to the Tories.
But he faced furious demands to quit immediately after he said he intended to lead the party through a ‘process of reflection’ as it considered the way forward.
Meanwhile Mr Johnson was faced with the prospect of an almost immediate constitutional showdown as Nicola Sturgeon demanded the right to hold a fresh referendum on Scottish independence.
After the SNP took 48 of the 59 seats in Scotland, the First Minister said she would next week set out a ‘detailed democratic case’ for a transfer of power to Holyrood to enable a referendum to be ‘put beyond legal challenge’.
The PM spoke to Ms Sturgeon on Friday evening, reiterating his ‘unwavering commitment to strengthening the union’, according to a Downing Street spokesman.
‘The prime minister made clear how he remained opposed to a second independence referendum, standing with the majority of people in Scotland who do not want to return to division and uncertainty,’ said the Number 10 spokesman.
A dramatic election night saw Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson stepping down after losing her Dunbartonshire East seat to the SNP, while DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds was ousted by Sinn Fein in North Belfast.