Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary Boris Johnson has insisted Brexit will not be derailed and will be a huge success — and pledged that yes, the country’s EU contributions will be redeployed to provide extra funding for the National Health Service.
“My friends, I must report that there are at least some people who are woefully underestimating this country. They think Brexit isn’t going to happen. There are some media observers — in this country and around the world — who think we are going to bottle it,” he wrote, setting out a 4,000-word vision for Brexit Britain in the Telegraph.
“They think that we will simply despair of finding the way out of the EU and sit down on the floor and cry – like some toddler lost in the maze at Hampton Court.
“Well, in so far as they doubt our resolve, I believe they are wrong,” he declared. “I am here to tell you that this country will succeed in our new national enterprise, and will succeed mightily.”
Johnson said the European Union’s plan “to construct what is effectively a single polity out of 27 countries” — set out in some detail by the President of the European Commission recently — “is simply not for Britain”.
He said the country would be “immensely healthier” with its destiny in its own hands — “And yes – once we have settled our accounts, we will take back control of roughly £350 million per week.”
He added: “It would be a fine thing … if a lot of that money went on the NHS, provided we use that cash injection to modernise and make the most of new technology.”
As a key player with Vote Leave, the smaller of the two major Leave campaigns during the Brexit referendum, Johnson made a pledge to subtract £100m a week from Britain’s £350m gross contribution to the EU budget and give it to the National Health Service.
Vote Leave’s decision to campaign on the £350m figure was considered controversial because it includes money which returns to Britain via EU funds, as well as the country’s vaunted rebate — considered a triumph by the Tory Party but “half of a tip” by Continental europhiles.
However, the former could go much further if controlled by Britain directly, and the latter has been significantly eroded since it was first introduced.
Britain’s net contribution to the EU budget — its contribution minus EU funding and the rebate — stands at a still very substantial £200m a week.