Boris Johnson takes over as British Prime Minister, begins constituting Cabinet

 

Boris Johnson said he wanted to “change the country for the better” after he became the UK’s new prime minister.

Speaking outside No 10, he said Brexit would happen on 31 October “no ifs, no buts”, adding “the buck stops here”.

“The doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters” who said it could not be done were “wrong”, the new PM added.

Mr Johnson is making sweeping changes to his top team. More than half the cabinet, including leadership rival Jeremy Hunt, have quit or been sacked.

Earlier in a 13-minute speech outside Downing Street, Mr Johnson listed a wide range of domestic ambitions, chiefly a promise to sort out care for the elderly “once and for all”.

Reforms to the social care sector have eluded previous governments because of their cost and complexity.

“We will fix it once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared to give every older person the dignity and security they deserve,” he insisted.

Mr Johnson also pledged to improve infrastructure, recruit 20,000 new police officers and “level up” school spending. He promised reforms to ensure the £20 billion in extra funding earmarked for the NHS “really gets to the front line”.

And he pledged to boost the UK’s biotech and space science sectors, change the tax rules to provide incentives for investment, and do more to promote the welfare of animals.

Setting out his priorities for office, the former London mayor hit out at the “pessimists” who did not believe Brexit could be delivered and called for an end to three years of indecision.

“The people who bet against Britain are going to lose their shirts because we are going to restore trust in our democracy,” he said.

“The time has come to act, to take decisions and change this country for the better.”

He said he had “every confidence” the UK would leave the EU in 99 days time with a deal, but preparations for the “remote possibility” of a no-deal Brexit would be accelerated.

Mr. Johnson vowed to bring all four nations of the United Kingdom – or what he described as the “awesome foursome” – together in the task of strengthening a post-Brexit country.

“Though I am today building a great team of men and women, I will take personal responsibility for the change I want to see,” he concluded.

“Never mind the backstop, the buck stops here.”

The BBC’s Vicki Young said she was struck by the ambition of Mr Johnson’s objectives beyond Brexit and the fact that he would take personal responsibility for his success or failure in achieving them.

Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Johnson’s speech was “all rhetoric” and the new PM needed to show leadership rather than the “glib” answers he had become known for.