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The long-awaited day has arrived for Boris Johnson. The troublemaker of the Conservative Party was received Wednesday afternoon at Buckingham Palace by Queen Elizabeth II, who officially entrusted him with the task of forming the new British government, with the mission of bringing Brexit to a successful conclusion. And that's one of the first promises he made to Downing Street in his arrival speech.
Boris Johnson took office as prime minister on Wednesday afternoon. After the traditional rendezvous with the Queen, who commissioned him to form a government, he presented his priorities to the 10 Downing Street, first and foremost the Brexit: the country will leave the European Union without hesitation, October 31, said Boris Johnson, who intends to negotiate a new agreement with Brussels.
But in case of refusal, the new Prime Minister promises that the country will be ready for a Brexit without agreement. The new team was put in place, the first appointments were announced in the early evening, and the expected reshuffle proved to be an in-depth renewal of the government. Indeed almost all the main ministers of Theresa May have resigned or been thanked by Boris Johnson.
Unsurprisingly, the new Prime Minister built a Eurosceptic team of committed Brexit supporters. Like Dominic Raab , appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. This rising star of the conservative party had been Secretary of State at Brexit in Theresa May's team. He will play a leading role because he is also appointed First Secretary of State - in a sense, Deputy Prime Minister.
The Interior Ministry returns to a controversial figure, Priti Patel . Former Secretary of State for Theresa May, she was forced to resign after conducting talks with senior Israeli officials without notifying the Prime Minister and then hiding information from her. Very conservative, she publicly defended the death penalty before retracting. She replaces Interior Sajid Javid , "Brexiter" convinced, who becomes Minister of Finance.
But other convinced Brexiters have been fired, like Liam Fox. Among those who remain, Steven Barclay retains a key position, that of Secretary of State Brexit. There will be a continuity of form in the relations with Brussels to conclude the divorce.
A speech intended to set the tone and direction of his mandate
Boris Johnson donned the head of government costume while being careful to keep his inimitable style of tribune evangelist. In a long verbal logorrhea, at times difficult to follow and disorderly, he promised to leave Europe on October 31 without fail with a new agreement that will not include the "backstop" clause in Northern Ireland, reports our correspondent in London, Muriel Delcroix .
He also assured that if the 27 were not willing to negotiate, the United Kingdom would be ready to leave without agreement and that, in this case, London would not pay the note of the divorce, because this money would be used to cushion a "no deal". The new occupant of Downing Street recognized by the way that there would be an impact, but less important than predicted by the " pessimists and the Cassandra ".
But Boris Johnson also wanted to show that he had a real vision for the country beyond Brexit and devoted a good part of his speech to domestic issues, promising pell-mell to unite the country, increase wages, to fight climate change and do more to promote animal welfare.
But his critics were quick to point out that these promises were difficult to take seriously when the new prime minister still has not indicated exactly how he intended to implement the Brexit. And it is true that, beyond rhetoric, no precise detail emerged from this speech, which was supposed to set the tone and direction of its mandate.
► See also - UK: Boris Johnson officially inaugurated Prime Minister