Boris Johnson formally takes charge as Britain's new PM
Boris Johnson, the 55-year-old former foreign secretary and London Mayor, laid out his vision as Prime Minister in his first speech on the steps of Downing Street after a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, during which the 93-year-old monarch formally invited him to form a government after accepting Theresa May's resignation a little earlier.
Boris Johnson said he wants to pursue a new trade deal and is expected to build on his self-confessed "personal relationship" with PM Modi to deliver a "truly special" bilateral relationship.
Boris Johnson officially became Britain's new Prime Minister on Wednesday and promised to leave the European Union on October 31 "no ifs, no buts" under a "new deal" with the 28-member economic bloc.
The 55-year-old former foreign secretary and London Mayor laid out his vision as Prime Minister in his first speech on the steps of Downing Street after a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, during which the 93-year-old monarch formally invited him to form a government after accepting Theresa May's resignation a little earlier.
"We will 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," Johnson said, adding that while he does have 99 days to that deadline, the country has had enough of waiting and the time to act on Brexit is right away.
"Brexit was a fundamental decision by the British people. We must now respect that decision and create a new partnership with our European friends The work begins immediately behind that black door and I take personal responsibility of the change I want to see. Never mind the backstop, the buck stops here," the prime minister said just before he went into that iconic black No. 10 door of Downing Street, the British PM's office.
However, mindful of not just focussing on Brexit at this "extraordinary moment in history", he laid out a range of other promises around 20,000 additional police to make Britain's streets safer, introducing crucial social care and education reforms as well as begin work on free trade deals around the world.
