Boris johnson post brexit

There are lies, damned lies and Boris Johnson’s weasel sums. By no honest calculation can Britain’s net payment to the European Union be estimated as £350m a week. Nigel Farage admits it. So does the Daily Mail. Even Johnson admits it. In his “glorious Brexit” essay in the Daily Telegraph last Friday the foreign secretary said that we would “take back control” of roughly £350m a week when we leave the EU. A reasonable person might assume that Johnson meant that the country would have that amount of extra money to spend post-Brexit. What a “fine thing”, Johnson wrote, “if a lot of that money went to the NHS”. In his spat with the UK Statistics Authority Johnson now says he is shocked, SHOCKED that his words should be understood in this crassly simplistic way. To suggest that he was claiming that £350m might be “available for extra public spending” is a “wilful distortion” etc. In other … [Read more...] about Boris Johnson’s £350m claim is devious and bogus. Here’s why

Boris Johnson faced growing pressure over his intervention on Brexit as Cabinet colleagues lined up to question his actions and he was accused of a “clear misuse of official statistics”. Sir David Norgrove, the head of the UK Statistics Authority, said he was “surprised and disappointed” to see the foreign secretary restate the controversial claim that Britain will claw back £350m a week after leaving the EU, triggering a war of words between the pair. Johnson hit back in a strongly worded letter in which he accused Norgrove of a “wilful distortion of the text of my article”, claiming it was a misrepresentation and demanding it be withdrawn. And although there were claims that Michael Gove backed Johnson over the decision to lay out his views on Brexit just days before May’s critical speech, a spokesman said: “The first Michael knew about Boris’s article was when it was published on Friday night.” They also made clear … [Read more...] about Boris Johnson left isolated as row grows over £350m post-Brexit claim

Boris Johnson looked gleeful as he got behind the wheel of an electric car - just hours after one of the world's biggest manufacturers snubbed the UK because of Brexit . The Prime Minister was given a tour of the production line at a factory before climbing into the vehicle. He visited the London Electric Vehicle Company in Ansty, West Midlands ahead of his first keynote speech of the election campaign. His tour concluded with him taking a seat in an electric black cab - which had a "Boris10" number plate on the dashboard. The Prime Minister then drove the car a short distance and said "here we go" before pulling to a stop. He has promised a post-Brexit "green revolution". The electric car firm had considered the UK as a location, but opted to open its European Gigafactory in Germany instead. Speaking at an award ceremony hosted by German motoring publication Auto Bild, Mr Musk revealed plans to erect the factory near Berlin. He said: "Some of the best cars in the world are made in … [Read more...] about General Election: Boris Johnson drives electric taxi hours after Tesla’s Brexit snub

In his campaign for the Conservative leadership, Boris Johnson has pledged more bobbies on the beat, a budget boost for schools and his team hinted at public sector pay rises. But his warm words about public services are underpinned by fantasy economics. His most eye-catching public service commitment has been to reverse his party’s cuts to policing by finding £1.1bn to hire 20,000 more police officers. Johnson sees his record on cutting crime as London mayor as one of his most impressive achievements, although it is less persuasive when compared with long-term national trends. But this pitch to restore the Tories’ battered reputation as the party of law and order misses the point that cutting crime requires substantial and sustained investment in technology, as well as addressing weaknesses in the regional structure of police forces. Some of those promised officers should be traded for better kit and stronger organisation. The cost of his promise on policing is … [Read more...] about Fishy figures: Boris Johnson’s public service pledges are fantasy economics

Boris Johnson came to office pledging to ditch the Irish border backstop - the controversial arrangement in the Brexit deal negotiated by Theresa May that she failed to get passed by MPs.Trying to sort out Britain's EU exit was the downfall of Mrs May, and now Mr Johnson is battling to make sure he does not meet the same fate.Sky News takes a look at the different versions of the backstop that have been proposed - and why the concept itself has proved so contentious.First things first, what is the backstop?The 2016 vote for Brexit has raised a multitude of questions, not least about the future status of the border between Northern Ireland - part of the United Kingdom - and the Republic - an EU member. Advertisement Because of this new disparity between two countries that share a land border, arrangements for avoiding a return to a hard frontier (border posts and checkpoints) need to be agreed.The backstop is an insurance policy contained in the withdrawal agreement … [Read more...] about What is the backstop – and how could Boris Johnson try to solve the conundrum?