Boris Johnson vows to make Britain the ‘greatest place on earth’ in Trump-style interview
BORIS Johnson has promised to make Britain "the greatest place on earth" as he vowed to unite Britain and finally deliver our long-awaited Brexit.
The front-runner to become the next Tory leader and PM has issued a fresh rallying cry as thousands of members get their ballots this week.
He insisted he was taking "nothing for granted" and would "fight for every vote" as Tories finally make up their minds whether they want him or Jeremy Hunt to be Britain's next leader.
He told the Daily Telegraph today he promised to embrace the opportunities that leaving the EU will bring, and use it to revitalise the entire country.
In an interview which echoed Donald Trump's 'Make America great again' message, he promised: "I will set out a vision for Britain as the greatest place on Earth. The greatest place to be, the greatest place to live, to raise a family.
"The greatest place to send your kids to school, the greatest place to breathe clean air, to start a business, the place where you'll find the most exciting tech scene, the most exciting academic culture, the most cutting-edge businesses of all kinds, but also a place where we improve the environment, we improve quality of life for everybody, because we're uniting the country and bringing it together, that's what I want to do."
The news comes as:
- The Sun revealed how spy chief kept secrets from Boris when he was Foreign Secretary over fears he couldn't be trusted - but Boris said it wasn't true
- Ex-PM John Major threw his weight behind Jeremy Hunt, saying 'we need a serious leader'
- Boris has met with old rivals Michael Gove and Sajid Javid as he plans his Cabinet out
- He came first with two thirds of the vote in a fresh poll of Tory members
- Brexiteer supporters of Boris warned he might need to do a deal with Nigel Farage if there's an early election
- Chancellor Philip Hammond said he was confident that Remainers will find a way to block a No Deal in the Commons
Boris has used his record as Mayor of London to insist he would do the same for the country, making it the greatest country on earth.
"It's time for a bit of confidence, a bit of self-belief, it's time to stop being so negative about what the UK can do and that's how we'll get a great [Brexit] deal," he added.
Later today Boris and Hunt will take part in another two hustings, answering questions from Tory members in the North East and Scotland.
Boris is still the favourite to win but his rival Hunt convinced he can erode his lead down.
Previous Tory member polls put Boris ahead with two thirds of the vote.
But there's still another two and a half weeks of campaigning to go, include two head-to-head debates with The Sun and ITV.
Today the pair went up against Tory members again in hustings in Darlington.
Boris denied he'd had his intelligence briefings restricted when he was foreign secretary, saying: "It's not true. I don't comment on intelligence matters."
And he defended making gaffes in the past, saying sometimes he was in the wrong but in others he was simply telling the truth.
"I'm proud of many of them," he told the audience. "Very often, a gaffe turns out to be the unvarnished... what you're really doing id saying something that's true and necessary."
The Brexiteer also said he would make more money if he wasn't a politician, but it was worth making the "sacrifice" for.
He was earning hundreds of thousands of pounds as an after dinner speaker since he quit as foreign secretary, but won't be able to do that in No10.
"It's obviously possible to make more money by not being a full-time politician," he said.
"But you have to make sacrifices, that is the right thing to do."
Boris also promised promised to slash stamp duty to get the housing market moving again.
He said it was a "problem" that stamp duty was so high and cutting it would free up more houses for first-time buyers.
Boris said: "I think particularly in London there is clearly a problem with stamp duty and it needs to be addressed.
"I'm not going to put a figure on how much we're going to cut but we will certainly be looking to do that because I think actually you can do that in such a way as to increase revenues if you get it right because the market is locked up at the moment."
Philip Hammond last year scrapped stamp duty for first time buyers as part of a Budget giveaway for the young, but stamp duty is still stopping people from moving, experts say.
Boris said his first budget would be to "generate growth and confidence in the UK".
It's likely to take place in November or early December, just weeks after he's promised to get us out.
But Boris could bring forward an emergency Brexit Budget to get Britain ready to leave.
Former prime minister John Major said today he would be getting behind Mr Hunt for the leadership.
He told the BBC: "We need a serious leader for serious times.
"I do find that many of the things that have been said by Boris Johnson and by many others to be in conflict with reality as I understand it."
But he insisted he wasn't speaking out to attack Boris.
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Boris meets with old rivals Gove and Javid as he gets his Cabinet ready for No10
BORIS Johnson has met with his former leadership rivals Michael Gove and Sajid Javid as he prepares his Cabinet team for No10.
The Times revealed the Tory front-runner has held talks with both Cabinet ministers this week, as he gets ready to enter Downing Street.
The paper reported that Boris is already drawing up plans to fill the 109 ministerial roles in Government.
So far sources in his camp have insisted he's not handed out any top jobs - even to allies.
But Huffington Post revealed today that Boris could delay his planned reshuffle if he gets into No10 as not to make enemies in his first weeks in office.
He's already expected to face a vote of no confidence in his first days in office, and sacked ministers could be at risk of bringing down the Government thanks to the Tories' small majority.
Boris might instead choose his top team after Parliament has broken up for the summer recess break.
Mr Javid is tipped to become Boris' Chancellor after he was booted out of the leadership race two weeks ago.
A source close to Jeremy Hunt said: "There’s sensible planning and then there’s measuring up the curtains. This is yet more evidence of a complacent campaign that members increasingly feel is taking them for granted."
All sides declined to comment, saying the meetings were private.
And getting ready to do trade deals around the world is the best way to turbo boost the economy, Boris insisted - first with the EU and then with America.
"This is a great opportunity for the UK," he said.
"This is the first chance we will have had in 45 years to start thinking about being global again. We should start thinking less of Brexit, more of Bre-entry to the rest of the world."
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