Q: What is your approach to screening cooperation with China?
Johnson says there is a balance to be struck between being open to trade, and not doing anything that might compromise national security.
I’m very, very far from a sinophobe.
Q: Will fuel duty go up under the Tories?
Johnson says he has “no intention” of raising fuel duty. He says Labour would introduce huge tax rises.
Q: Will you meet Donald Trump next week?
Johnson says he will be hosting the Nato meeting next week, and looks forward to meeting all Nato leaders.
Q: Last night you said you had not lied in your political career. But didn’t you lie to Michael Howard about having an affair?
Johnson says he does not set out to mislead people. When he sets out to do something, he delivers. That is why he is so upset about the failure to deliver Brexit.
Q: Do you still think the institution of the monarchy is beyond reproach?
Johnson says, in his view, the monarchy is the Queen. He implies that is what he was talking about when he said the monarchy was beyond reproach in the ITV debate. He says that is not the same as talking about the royal family.
Q: Why won’t you give MPs the chance to repeal the foxhunting ban?
Johnson says he does not want to bring back foxhunting. He wants to champion animal rights. He thinks it is wrong that people are able to ban shark fin soup. That should be banned. You cannot do it under EU law. And you cannot ban the shipment of live animals either under EU law. What is Labour’s policy on this, he asks.
Q: Can you give an example of a business over the last decade that you would have saved with state aid?
Johnson says he does not want to address this.
It would not be fair on individual companies, Michael Gove claims.
Q: Is it all over for Jacob Rees-Mogg in your government?
Johnson says any commentary on this would be seen as his “measuring up the curtains” ahead of an election victory.
Q: You say you are confident of being able to get a deal. Will you end no-deal planning?
Johnson says no-deal planning was thoroughly useful. It convinced the EU the UK was serious about leaving. He says these plans should be kept in a state of readiness. They will remain “extant”, he says.
Q: You said when you became PM you would fix the crisis in social care. Now you are saying you want to discuss the problem with Labour. Isn’t that political cowardice?
Johnson says this is a “huge national crisis”. The government is putting more into the NHS, he says. But it is the interface between people leaving hospital and social care that creates the problem. The government will put an extra £1bn every year into the system to address this. He says he is reaching out to Labour.
Q: Do your state aid plans imply a North Korea Brexit?
Johnson says he believes in competition. But there are distortions sometimes introduced by the EU rules. Outside the EU, the government may be able to speed things up in relation to planning processes. And with school buses, or buses for the disabled, there may be advantages from being outside the EU.
Q: Have your views on single mothers changed since 1995?
Johnson says he has addressed this.
Q: Will the new state aid rules be devolved?
Johnson says policy in this area will remain national policy.
Q: The EU won’t give you a zero tariff, zero quota trade deal if you want to diverge from EU rules. Why do you think you will get a deal?
Johnsons says, under trade deals, you have committees to arbitrate when there are disputes. But it should be a committee of equals.
Q: Do you favour bring back more Islamic State children to the UK?
Johnson says these cases pose difficult questions. The government is doing what it can.
Q: You have blamed everyone for the failure to deliver Brexit. Are any of you willing to take responsiblity for the fact that you started this project without a plan?
Johnson says this is a great project. It is a tragedy that parliament has blocked it.
Gisela Stuart says the alternatives offered to Brexit, including Labour’s alternative, is just a version of remain.
- Labour’s proposed Brexit is just a version of remain, claims Gisela Stuart.
Michael Gove says he takes full responsibility for his actions. But so should the MPs – Labour and Conservative – who said they would honour the referendum result, and then blocked it.
Q: If you fail to get a trade deal by the end of 2020, will the UK leave the transition period without a deal? In the past you have made derogatory comments about single mothers. Why should they vote for you?
Johnson says he has written millions of words. People can cull them and distort them.
He says Brexit will allow the UK to cut VAT on tampons.
And the government will be able to do other things too, like introduce free ports.
He asks how Britain would benefit from the Brexit deal Labour is planning. The UK would not be able to take back control, he says. He says he has a great deal.
Coming back to his plans, he says the UK will be able to begin negotiating trade deals as soon as the UK leaves the EU.
Johnson and his colleagues are now taking questions.
Q: Will you take responsibility for any damage to the economy from a no-deal Brexit? Would you run a more interventionist government? And are you running scared of the Andrew Neil interview?
Johnson says he is here, submitting himself to questions. He says John Pienaar, who asked the question, is a formidable interviewer.
He says he is confident he will be able to negotiate a trade deal with the EU by the end of next year. The UK is “in a state of grace” because it is already aligned to EU rules. That will make it easier, he suggests. He says a trade deal has never started from this point.
On state aid, he says the ramifications are felt everywhere. He says councils that try to run bus services for pupils, and then try to charge, fall foul of state aid rules because they are deemed to be in competition with other providers.
Johnson lists some potential benefits of Brexit
Johnson is now speaking about the benefits from Brexit. The UK will be able to:
Buy British, in government procurement
Abolish the tampon tax
Intervene to protect British businesses
Introduce an Australian-style points-based immigration system
(This may be the first time that being able to abolish the tampon tax has been cited as the second most prominent benefit from Brexit.)
Boris Johnson is speaking now.
He says this election is an opportunity to get Brexit done. Then the government can unleash the UK’s potential.
He says, if he gets a majority government, he will bring the withdrawal agreement bill back before Christmas.
(Presumably that means getting MPs to give it a second reading before Christmas.)
And Johnson says the UK will be able to leave the EU by 31 January, “no ifs, not buts”.
Former Labour MP Gisela Stuart urges leave supporters to vote Tory this time to get Brexit done
Gisela Stuart says she supported Tony Blair’s Labour because it represented a fairer society.
Her values have not changed, she says.
But the Labour party has changed.
The Labour party of John Smith, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown has gone.
She says the country can choose change – but not by voting for Jeremy Corbyn.
In this election, she will not vote for Corbyn. But she can vote for Brexit. A vote for Boris Johnson this time is a vote to get Brexit done.
She says this does not mean she is a Tory, or that she will vote for Johnson in future elections.
She urges other leave voters to do the same.
Gove claims vote against Tories is vote against change
Gove says a vote for any party other than the Conservative party is a vote against change.
Boris Johnson’s press conference
Boris Johnson is holding a rare press conference. He is appearing with two of his colleagues from the Vote Leave campaign – Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, and Gisela Stuart, the former Labour MP.
There is a live feed at the top of the blog.
Michael Gove starts. He says the vote to leave the EU in 2016 was a vote for change.
