Boris Johnson Brexit speech - as it happened: Foreign Secretary seeks to woo remainers but key address light on detail

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Boris Johnson has warned that reversing the 2016 referendum result will be a “disastrous mistake” as he set out his vision for Brexit in a major speech.

In an attempt to reach out to pro-Europeans in Britain, Mr Johnson, a prominent Leave campaigner, added in his speech: “It is not good enough to say to Remainers – you lost, get over it; because we must accept that many are actuated by entirely noble sentiments.”

During the speech he also left open the option of resigning from the Cabinet if he fails to get the clean break Brexit he is demanding.

Asked to guarantee he would not walk out - if his senior colleagues decide to keep close alignment with EU regulations, in a long-term trading deal – the Foreign Secretary ducked the question.

Instead, he said only: “We are all very luck to serve. And I am certainly one of those.”

The comment came at the end of a major speech in which Mr Johnson said it would be “intolerable and undemocratic” if Britain had to follow EU laws over which it had no say.

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said: "This speech underlined the Government's real intentions - a Brexit of deregulation where rights and protections are casually cast aside and where the benefits of the single market and the customs union are ignored.

"Nobody will be fooled or reassured by the Foreign Secretary's empty rhetoric.

"His insistence on deregulating our economy is the opposite of what businesses and trade unions want to hear.

"Instead of building the consensus we need, the Government's approach will only further divide the country and put jobs, rights and living standards at risk."

Ashley Cowburn14 February 2018 13:16

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{"type":"article-link","data":{"title":"\u00a0\nHere's the full story on Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, accusing Boris Johnson of talking \"nonsense\" ovre his claims about an EU superstate\nThe EU just accused Boris Johnson of talking 'total nonsense'Boris Johnson is talking \u201ctotal nonsense\u201d by claiming EU chiefs wants to turn the bloc into superstate, the President of the European Commission has said. Asked for his response to comments made by the Foreign Secretary, Jean-Claude Juncker\u00a0told reporters in Brussels that he was \u201cstrictly against\u201d an EU superstate.","url":"

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Boris Johnson jokes about sex tourism in Thailand during major Brexit speechBoris Johnson appeared to joke about sex tourism in Thailand during a major speech about Brexit. In an address in which Foreign Secretary outlined his vision for the country’s departure from the EU, he also quipped “the right deal on aviation and on visa-free travel” would allow Britons “ever more intensively to go on cheapo flights to stag parties in ancient cities”.

Ashley Cowburn14 February 2018 14:24

Johnson refuses to rule out quitting if he doesn't get the Brexit he wantsBoris Johnson has left open the option of resigning from the Cabinet if he fails to get the clean break Brexit he is demanding, after a key speech.  Asked to guarantee he would not walk out - if his senior colleagues decide to keep close alignment with EU regulations, in a long-term trade deal – the Foreign Secretary ducked the question.

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Boris Johnson jokes about sex tourism in Thailand during major Brexit speechBoris Johnson appeared to joke about sex tourism in Thailand during a major speech about Brexit.  In an address in which Foreign Secretary outlined his vision for the country’s departure from the EU, he also quipped “the right deal on aviation and on visa-free travel” would allow Britons “ever more intensively to go on cheapo flights to stag parties in ancient cities”.

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