Saturday, 27 Apr 2024

Johnson promises Brexit in time for Christmas as he unveils manifesto

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged to ‘get Brexit done’ by Christmas if he is re-elected.

The Conservative Party leader intends to bring his Withdrawal Agreement back to the House of Commons next month in order to have it finally passed by MPs.

His promise is based on the assumption that he can win an overall majority in the election on December 12.

While the Irish Government is still opposed to Brexit, this outcome would ensure no return to a hard Border on this island.

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But businesses will face into a difficult new year period as the UK would exit the EU on January 31 at the latest, albeit it will remain attached to its rules for a one-year transition period.

Speaking as he launched his party’s manifesto, Mr Johnson said: “We will get Brexit done and we will end the acrimony and the chaos.”

The UK Labour Party, however, said the manifesto was simply a recipe for “more cuts, more failure and years more of Brexit uncertainty”.

And today former British prime minister Tony Blair will brand the plan to deliver Brexit as a “fantasy”, adding that he wouldn’t trust his successor in Downing Street with a blank cheque.

Mr Blair is expected to describe the state of British politics as “utterly dysfunctional” in a speech to a Reuters Newsmaker event.

He is expected to say: “The Conservative Party say vote Tory and Brexit will be done; it will be over. They even add – do it and we can get back to dealing with the important issues.

“The cheek is quite breathtaking. So, having visited this debacle upon us, which has distracted us from those big issues for over three years, they now use the distraction as a reason for doing Brexit, not abandoning it.

“It is, however, a fantasy. Brexit isn’t over on 12 December, nor even on 31 January next year. We immediately begin the new phase of Brexit negotiation.”

Mr Blair will summarise that Conservative politicians believe they can force people to elect them because the alternative is Jeremy Corbyn.

At the same time, Labour senses it can combine its traditional support with anti-Brexit conservatives who will back it due to the exceptional circumstances.

“In other words, both parties want to win on the basis that whatever your dislike of what they’re offering, the alternative is worse,” the ex-prime minister will say. “Yet though Brexit is a distraction, it is also the vital determinant of the nation’s future.

“It remains the single most important decision since 1945. Because of its effect on the economy, it impacts every one of the non-Brexit promises the parties are making.

“Doing it matters. How it is done matters. And exhaustion is not the frame of mind in which to do it.

“No-deal Brexit is not off the table. It is slap bang in the middle of it.”

Mr Blair will add: “When people hear the phrase ‘no deal’, they often think we just mean failure to agree; which in Brexiteer language means we haven’t surrendered.

“What it really means is throwing our economy off a cliff and hoping it finds a parachute on the way down.”

As he arrived in the central England town of Telford yesterday for his manifesto launch, Mr Johnson was welcomed by supporters chanting “Boris” but a little further away, protesters shouted: “Liar, liar, pants on fire.”

He said next month’s vote would be the “most critical in modern memory” offering a stark choice between Labour and Conservative visions for the future.

“That is the choice between out and out retrograde and destructive socialism and sensible one-nation Conservatism,” he said.

“Get Brexit done and we shall see a pent-up tidal wave of investment into this country.

“Get Brexit done and we can focus our hearts and our minds on the priorities of the British people.”

He also ruled out seeking any further delay to Brexit, saying in his party’s manifesto: “We will not extend the implementation period beyond December 2020.”

He also committed to no new taxes and to recruit 20,000 more police and 50,000 nurses.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn dismissed it as a “manifesto for billionaires”.

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