BRITAIN will leave the European Union on October 31 “deal or nor deal,” Boris Johnson has insisted as he formally launched his bid to succeed Theresa May as Conservative leader and Prime Minister.
The 54-year-old politician in a campaign video also promised to cut taxes, raise school spending and put more bobbies on the beat.
The bookies’ favourite to seize the Tory crown in a crowded field of 13 candidates pitched his launch to make clear to Tory MPs that he was the candidate most likely to secure them a general election victory with carefully chosen footage of the former Foreign Secretary on voters' doorsteps.
The former Foreign Secretary suggested he could "cut some taxes” and “get more money in" to pay for his campaign pledges.
As well as extra funding for schools in England, Mr Johnson declared: “We need more police out there."
More money for spending on schools would normally mean a windfall for the Scottish Government through the so-called Barnett Formula, by which Scotland per head gets a higher level of spending than England overall. However, Mr Johnson has been an opponent of this system, once describing it as “slightly reckless”.
In his campaign video, the former London Mayor said: "If there is one message in that referendum of 2016, it is that too many people feel left behind, that they are not able to take part fully in the opportunities and success of our country. That's why now is the time to unite our society and unite our country.
"To build the infrastructure, to invest in education, to improve our environment and support our fantastic NHS.
"To lift everyone in our country and, of course, also to make sure that we support our wealth creators and the businesses that make that investment possible. Now is the time for us to believe in ourselves and what we can do," declared the London MP.
The PM is set to relinquish her role as Tory leader on Friday with the contest to succeed her beginning in earnest on Monday.
But the first stage could last for weeks as MPs vote to eliminate candidates until two are left on the ballot paper. These will then take part in nationwide hustings. It is widely thought that if Mr Johnson can get into the final two, he will win because of his support among the 120,000-strong membership.
The party’s plan is to name the new leader by the time Westminster rises for its summer recess in mid-July.
But senior Conservatives have raised concerns about the numbers taking part, leading the contest to be dubbed the “parliamentary Grand National”.
James Brokenshire, the Communities Secretary, urged some colleagues in their “scramble” for the leadership to consider pulling out of the race to "speed things up," now they have "provoked some ideas and thoughts".
He suggested no-hopers were wasting everybody's time and insisted there should only be "a small handful of candidates" in the running because "we just don't have the luxury of time".
His point was echoed by Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, who noted: “I hope those who are not really, numbers-wise, in the running, will think twice about whether they really want to go ahead with their candidacies.”
Ken Clarke, the former Chancellor, was critical of the leadership contest, saying: "It is all a shambles and is in danger of becoming a rather tragic farce unless some order is brought into it. There is nothing I can do about that; the 1922[backbench] Committee perhaps should have tightened up the rules before we started."
The Europhile Tory is backing Rory Stewart, the International Development Secretary, who is against a no-deal outcome. Mr Clarke insisted the Scot had a “chance" of succeeding Mrs as the next PM and "shake up the present establishment of the party".
"I have never seen the Conservative Party in such a crisis. I do think it is tearing itself apart. It is polarising into simplistic positions," he declared.
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