Boris Johnson begins his speech in parliament
- Says we want to make this country the greatest place on earth
- Would prefer to leave the EU with a deal
- But committed to leaving the EU on 31 October whatever the circumstances
- Existing Brexit deal i.e. withdrawal agreement is unacceptable to parliament
- Says backstop must be abolished to reach a deal
- Wants to negotiate new Brexit deal in good faith
- Other Brexit arrangements are 'perfectly possible'
- Hopes that EU will be ready to rethink changes to withdrawal agreement
- UK is better prepared for no-deal than many believe
That's a lot of big talk and I reckon it won't go down well with European lawmakers. Unless they have a change of heart or are willing to extend an olive branch - one that they didn't with Theresa May - then I don't see how any of the above can be vindicated.
If anything else, this just points towards a likely no-deal outcome once negotiations fail to advance and that's when we'll see parliament start turning on him like they did with May.
