Boris Johnson Brexit speech - as it happened: Foreign Secretary seeks to woo remainers but key address light on detail
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Boris Johnson has warned that reversing the 2016 referendum result will be a “disastrous mistake” as he set out his vision for Brexit in a major speech.
In an attempt to reach out to pro-Europeans in Britain, Mr Johnson, a prominent Leave campaigner, added in his speech: “It is not good enough to say to Remainers – you lost, get over it; because we must accept that many are actuated by entirely noble sentiments.”
During the speech he also left open the option of resigning from the Cabinet if he fails to get the clean break Brexit he is demanding.
Asked to guarantee he would not walk out - if his senior colleagues decide to keep close alignment with EU regulations, in a long-term trading deal – the Foreign Secretary ducked the question.
Instead, he said only: “We are all very luck to serve. And I am certainly one of those.”
The comment came at the end of a major speech in which Mr Johnson said it would be “intolerable and undemocratic” if Britain had to follow EU laws over which it had no say.
As we wait for Johnson's speech at around 11am, this is from the Press Association - the latest in the battle to capture the environmental ground.
Dozens of senior Tories including Environment Secretary Michael Gove have promised to cut down on their plastic use for Lent in the latest sign of the party's bid to burnish its green credentials.
Business Secretary Greg Clark and 11 other ministers have promised to reduce the amount of single-use plastics such as water bottles, cutlery and disposable coffee cups they consume.
Mr Gove was spotted strolling into Downing Street with a reusable coffee mug in January and later the entire Cabinet was provided with a green alternative to disposable cups.
The Tories, keen to woo young voters, have made a concerted effort to stress their environmental policies, including a major speech by Theresa May setting out plans to curb plastic use.
Boris Johnson is now up - he's repeating extracts that were briefed out last night. Reaching out to Remainers, he says he wants to "allay" their fears.
He also warns it would be a 'disastrous mistake" to overturn the referendum result.
Johnson says there are three types of concern about the "momentous choice thew nation has made" .
They are "strategic, spiritual and economic"
"I want to show you today that Brexit need not be nationalist but internationalist - not an economic threat but a considerable opportunity," he says.
It is this government's duty to advocate and explain the mission on which we are now engaged, Boris adds.
“It is not good enough to say to Remainers – you lost, get over it; because we must accept that many are actuated by entirely noble sentiments, a real sense of solidarity with our European neighbours and a desire for the UK to succeed.”
On security, he says all those worry about the loss of security after Brexit he can offer the same assurances given by Theresa May - a commitment to foreign aid, defence spending.
He says the defence spending is "unconditional and immoveable" - words that will undoubtedly be welcomed by the Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson.
"We will continue to be Europeans both practical and psychologically, because out status as one of the great contributors to European culture and civilisation," he says - in another olive branch to pro-European voters.
This is from my colleague Ben Kentish who is at Boris Johnson's speech at the Policy Exchange building in central London.
"There are more British people living in Australia than in the whole of the EU and more in the US and Canada.
"As I have discovered we have more than a million who go Thailand every year, where according to our superb consular services they get up to the most eye-popping things."
Some colourful words in Boris Johnson's speech here:
"In that sense Brexit is about re-engaging this country with its global identity, and all the energy that can flow from that.
"And I absolutely refuse to accept the suggestion that it is some unBritish spasm of ban manners.
"It's not some great V-sign from the cliffs of Dover.
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