UK PM, Boris Johnson, Pledges to Deliver Brexit by Oct. 31

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday pledged that the UK would leave the European Union on Oct. 31.

Johnson made this known in his first speech after assuming office.

He added that London would secure a new and “better” deal with Brussels.

“It has become clear that there are pessimists at home and abroad, who think after three years of indecision that this country has become a prisoner to the old arguments of 2016, and in this home of democracy, we are incapable of honoring a democratic mandate.

“And so I am standing before you today to tell you, the British people, that those critics are wrong.

“We are going to fulfill the repeated promises of parliament to the people and come out of the European Union on Oct. 31, no ifs or buts.

“And we will do a new deal, a better deal,” the new prime minister said.

Johnson stressed he was convinced that a deal without checks on the Irish border and without the backstop clause was possible.

“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,” Johnson said. (dpa/NAN)