Boris Johnson's first speech as Prime Minister: 24 July 2019
Boris Johnson gave his first speech as Prime Minister in Downing Street.
Good afternoon
I have just been to see Her Majesty the Queen who has invited me to form a government and I have accepted
I pay tribute to the fortitude and patience of my predecessor
and her deep sense of public service
but in spite of all her efforts it has become clear that there are pessimists at home and abroad
who think that after three years of indecision
that this country has become a prisoner to the old arguments of 2016
and that in this home of democracy we are incapable of honouring a basic democratic mandate
And so I am standing before you today to tell you
the British people
that those critics are wrong
The doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters – they are going to get it wrong again
The people who bet against Britain are going to lose their shirts
because we are going to restore trust in our democracy
and we are going to fulfil the repeated promises of parliament to the people and come out of the EU on October 31
no ifs or buts
and we will do a new deal, a better deal that will maximise the opportunities of Brexit while allowing us to develop a new and exciting partnership with the rest of Europe
based on free trade and mutual support
I have every confidence that in 99 days’ time we will have cracked it
but you know what – we aren’t going to wait 99 days
because the British people have had enough of waiting
The time has come to act,
to take decisions
to give strong leadership and to change this country for the better
and though the Queen has just honoured me with this extraordinary office of state
my job is to serve you, the people
because if there is one point we politicians need to remember it is that the people are our bosses
My job is to make your streets safer – and we are going to begin with another 20,000 police on the streets
and we start recruiting forthwith
My job is to make sure you don’t have to wait 3 weeks to see your GP
and we start work this week with 20 new hospital upgrades, and ensuring that money for the NHS really does get to the front line
My job is to protect you or your parents or grandparents from the fear of having to sell your home to pay for the costs of care
and so I am announcing now – on the steps of Downing Street – that we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared
to give every older person the dignity and security they deserve
My job is to make sure your kids get a superb education
wherever they are in the country
and that’s why we have already announced that we are going to level up per pupil funding in primary and secondary schools
and that is the work that begins immediately behind that black door
and though I am today building a great team of men and women I will take personal responsibility
for the change I want to see
Never mind the backstop – the buck stops here
And I will tell you something else about my job.
It is to be Prime Minister of the whole United Kingdom
and that means uniting our country
answering at last the plea of the forgotten people
and the left behind towns
by physically and literally renewing the ties that bind us together
so that with safer streets and better education and fantastic new road and rail infrastructure and full fibre broadband
we level up across Britain
with higher wages, and a higher living wage, and higher productivity
we close the opportunity gap
giving millions of young people the chance to own their own homes
and giving business the confidence to invest across the UK
because it is time we unleashed the productive power not just of London and the South East
but of every corner of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
the awesome foursome that are incarnated in that red white and blue flag
who together are so much more than the sum of their parts
and whose brand and political personality is admired and even loved around the world
for our inventiveness, for our humour, for our universities, our scientists, our armed forces, our diplomacy
for the equalities on which we insist – whether race or gender or LGBT or the right of every girl in the world to 12 years of quality education
and for the values we stand for around the world
Everyone knows the values that flag represents
It stands for freedom and free speech and habeas corpus and the rule of law
and above all it stands for democracy
and that is why we will come out of the EU on October 31
because in the end Brexit was a fundamental decision by the British people that they wanted their laws made by people that they can elect
and they can remove from office
and we must now respect that decision
and create a new partnership with our European friends – as warm and as close and as affectionate as possible
and the first step is to repeat unequivocally our guarantee to the 3.2 m EU nationals now living and working among us
and I say directly to you – thank you for your contribution to our society
thank you for your patience and I can assure you that under this government you will get the absolute certainty of the rights
to live and remain
And next I say to our friends in Ireland, and in Brussels and around the EU
I am convinced that we can do a deal
without checks at the Irish border, because we refuse under any circumstances to have such checks
and yet without that anti-democratic backstop
and it is of course vital at the same time that we prepare for the remote possibility
that Brussels refuses any further to negotiate
and we are forced to come out with no deal
not because we want that outcome – of course not
but because it is only common sense to prepare
and let me stress that there is a vital sense in which those preparations cannot be wasted
and that is because under any circumstances we will need to get ready
at some point in the near future
to come out of the EU customs union and out of regulatory control
fully determined at last to take advantage of brexit
because that is the course on which this country is now set
with high hearts and growing confidence we will now accelerate the work of getting ready
and the ports will be ready and the banks will be ready
and the factories will be ready
and business will be ready
and the hospitals will be ready
and our amazing food and farming sector will be ready and waiting to continue selling
ever more not just here but around the world
and don’t forget that in the event of a no deal outcome we will have the extra lubrication of the £39 bn
and whatever deal we do we will prepare this autumn for an economic package
to boost British business and to lengthen this country’s lead as the number one destination in this continent for overseas investment
and to all those who continue to prophesy disaster
I say yes – there will be difficulties
though I believe that with energy and application they will be far less serious than some have claimed
but if there is one thing that has really sapped the confidence of business over the last three years
it is not the decisions we have taken
it is our refusal to take decisions
and to all those who say we cannot be ready
I say do not underestimate this country
Do not underestimate our powers of organisation and our determination
because we know the enormous strengths of this economy
in life sciences, in tech, in academia, in music, the arts, culture, financial services,
It is here in Britain that we are using gene therapy, for the first time, to treat the most common form of blindness
here in Britain that we are leading the world in the battery technology that will help cut CO2 and tackle climate change
and produce green jobs for the next generation
and as we prepare for a post-Brexit future it is time we looked not at the risks but at the opportunities that are upon us
so let us begin work now to create freeports that will drive growth and thousands of high-skilled jobs in left behind areas
let’s start now to liberate the UK’s extraordinary bioscience sector from anti genetic modification rules
and let’s develop the blight-resistant crops that will feed the world
let’s get going now on our own position navigation and timing satellite and earth observation systems – UK assets orbiting in space with all the long term strategic and commercial benefits for this country
Let’s change the tax rules to provide extra incentives to invest in capital and research
and let’s promote the welfare of animals that has always been so close to the hearts of the British people
and yes, let’s start now on those free trade deals
because it is free trade that has done more than anything else to lift billions out of poverty
all this and more we can do now and only now, at this extraordinary moment in our history
and after three years of unfounded self-doubt it is time to
change the record
to recover our natural and historic role as an enterprising, outward-looking and truly global Britain, generous in temper and engaged with the world
No one in the last few centuries has succeeded in betting against the pluck and nerve and ambition of this country
They will not succeed today
We in this government will work flat out to give this country the leadership it deserves
and that work begins now
Thank you very much