Boris Johnson chimes in new Brexit era on gong for 80 guests at Downing Street
BORIS Johnson made sure Brexit arrived with a bong — by ringing in the new era himself.
He marked the historic moment by striking a Chinese ornamental gong for 80 guests at a Downing Street reception.
The PM was determined that the £500,000 price tag on getting Big Ben to break its silence would not rob him of a Brexit bong.
Ministers, aides and officials who had assembled in the state room at No10 counted down the final seconds to Britain’s EU departure at 11pm on Friday.
Then, to their surprise, amusement and elation, he produced the miniature gong and struck it 11 times with a tiny mallet.
One guest said: “It was a masterstroke. A classic Boris moment.
“He was determined that the best efforts of so many killjoys were not going to put the dampeners on the occasion and he delivered Brexit in his own inimitable way.”
Mr Johnson’s DIY bongs signalled hard-fought victory in a battle spanning three-and-a-half years to deliver the result of the 2016 EU referendum.
He hosted the gathering in No10 for his troops as tens of thousands of people gathered outside to witness the moment Britain finally broke free.
In a speech to his guests, Mr Johnson hailed the nation’s “historic turning point” and declared: “We did it!”
He added: “This is the start of something fantastic and different.
“We took back control tonight. This is a fantastic moment in the life of our country.
“There are very few moments in our lives that really can be called an historic turning point — and this is it.
“This is not the end. It’s not even the beginning of the end or the half in the middle. It is the beginning of the beginning.”
'BREXIT WAS BRITS' WIN OVER BBC'
Mr Johnson brushed off any suggestion that he was the champion who delivered Brexit — by winning the referendum and a General Election to see off the saboteurs.
Instead, he put it down to the commonsense British public for having the courage to ignore scaremongering of big business and the BBC.
He insisted: “In my view, the people of this country are the real heroes of this story.
“Because, if you think what happened, in 2016 they were given a choice and they voted very substantially to leave.
“I know there are lots of people in this room who didn’t necessarily vote leave but I don’t care.
“The people of this country voted to leave despite everything they were told by the CBI and the BBC.
“The people of this country, in their bravery — in their absolutely brilliant, logical, divination of the truth — they voted to leave in spite of all the threats of punishment that they heard.”
Campaigners and staff were visibly overcome by the hard-fought achievement — and the PM’s closest adviser Dominic Cummings looked close to tears. They had assembled inside No10 for a low-key bash as a red, white and blue laser show lit up the wall outside.
Guests tucked into traditional British fare — savoury shortbread with Shropshire blue cheese, crab cakes and mini Yorkshire puddings with roast beef and horseradish sauce, swilled down with Gusbourne sparkling wine that’s produced in Kent.
But even in the final minute, the Prime Minister’s efforts to “Get Brexit Done” were plagued by gremlins.
Guests who had gathered around a giant TV screen to watch events unfold groaned in dismay as the live feed broke down with just 35 seconds to go.
It was a master stroke...a classic Boris moment
That’s when Mr Johnson came into his own and, not for the first time, seized the moment — and delivered Brexit with a final blaze of glory and humour.
He invited his guests to count down the seconds to 11 and then produced the gong — a gift from a visiting dignitary — to herald the moment they had all fought and waited for.
His gong bonging may not have matched the famed muscular man in briefs who appeared at the start of J Arthur Rank movies — but it was an image that will be as long remembered.
By accident or design, the PM did so standing in front of a portrait of Henry VIII during an equally historic moment.
It was painted in 1527 when the king began his dispute with Rome that led to the Reformation and the divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon.
The portrait was acquired, by coincidence, in 2016 — the year of the EU referendum.
It is an Anglo-French depiction of the king and it is displayed in the Pillared Room, where the many thousands of visitors who have stepped into the house’s state reception room are welcomed.
Mr Johnson promised his troops a return to a full-blooded domestic agenda that delivers for millions of ordinary people.
He said: “I am a Conservative and we are going to deliver a fantastic agenda to take this country forward. Time is marching and we’ve got to go very, very fast to get it all done.”
In a genuinely solemn moment, he added: “This is a turning point in the life of our nation.
“This is our chance to do something different and fantastic with our wonderful country.
“We have to make sure that everyone in our country has the chance in their lives to fulfil their talents, wherever they are born.”
He added: “It’s about doing fantastic things like free ports and free trade deals and lowering the cost of sanitary items — and animal welfare.
“Let’s explore those freedoms. It’s about immigration. We’re taking back control.”
The PM paused and thought before adding to cheers: “We TOOK back control tonight.”
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Turning to his top aide Mr Cummings, who ran the Vote Leave and the General Election campaigns, he said: “It was he, I seem to remember, who came up with the famous phrase that we should take back control.
“It was also Dom that came up with the other three-word epigram that the policy of the Government should be to ‘Get Brexit Done’.
“And I want you to remember that you were here tonight, at 11 o’clock, when finally we got Brexit done.”
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