Happy great future awaits UK outside the union: Johnson

The London mayor has killed off the argument a ‘leave’ vote could bring a better EU deal for Britain.

Boris Johnson arrives home in cold London last week.

“Out is out,” says Boris Johnson.

In his first newspaper interview since joining the Brexit campaign, the London mayor has killed off the argument that a “leave” vote could bring a better European Union deal for Britain, prompting another round of talks and a second referendum on membership.

Asked by The Times newspaper if there could be another referendum, Johnson said: “No. Out is out,” before adding: “What I want is to get out and then negotiate a series of trade arrangements around the world.”

Johnson’s comments are likely to delight Prime Minister David Cameron, who insists that there is no “third way” on the ballot paper at the referendum on June 23.

Cameron’s assertion that it is a “complete fiction” that other leaders would offer better terms in the event of a vote to leave is reinforced by the prime minister of Belgium, Charles Michel. “British citizens have the choice to say ‘yes’ or to say ‘no’, and to leave,” he said.

“Once they have made that choice, there is no turning back. This is an irreversible choice. There is no possibility of a second chance. The moment of truth is now.”

Cameron launched a bruising attack on Johnson in the Commons after his decision to follow Michael Gove, the justice secretary, into the Brexit camp, suggesting that he had done so to win a future Conservative leadership race.

His rival in such a contest, Chancellor George Osborne, took another swing, pointing to the plunge in sterling as markets reacted. “It reminds us all that this is not some political parlour game; this is about people’s jobs and their livelihoods and their living standards,” Osborne said.

Johnson has attacked the pair for focusing on the risks of leaving the EU.

“I think it’s my job to try to explain to people why I feel as I do and to do my absolute best to dismiss project fear, which I think is nonsense,” he said.

Although he conceded that there could be a short-term hit, Johnson said: “Britain could have a really great future, with a more dynamic economy and a happier population.”

The mayor said Britain needed to regain control of its borders. “I’m the mayor of a city that benefits massively from an inflow of talented workers but we haven’t been able to control the numbers, so you have an absolute crisis in housing.”

The Times