Boris Johnson was a journalist working for the Daily Telegraph and the Spectator magazine (Credit: Reuters)
UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has ramped up his PR offensive on the British public, writing letters to two of the most popular and Conservative-supporting Sunday papers.
Johnson wrote letters in both The Sun and The Sunday Express in the UK. Writing in the former, Johnson is clear: "We will be packing our bags and walking out on October 31."
The PM reaffirmed his position after government acknowledged that Johnson would abide by the Benn Act. The British leader has to secure a deal by October 19. If he doesn't, he is required by law to ask the EU for an extension. This is something he said he would rather "die in a ditch" than do. It is unclear how the PM will maneuver this apparent contradiction.
Johnson writes that his plan "gets the UK out of the EU and its customs union, allowing us to take back control of our trade policy and do free trade deals with our friends around the world." The rhetoric is almost identical to the slogan from the Brexit referendum, attributed to his adviser Dominic Cummings.
In an almost identical article in The Sunday Express, Johnson positions himself against those MPs who "don't want to deliver Brexit full stop."
In an attempt to show how popular his deal is at parliament, Johnson makes the unsubstantiated claim that certain Labour MPs have said the "proposed deal looks like one they can get behind".
It won't matter if Johnson can garner the support of all 650 MPs if the EU does sign off on his deal, a likely prospect after the bloc's Chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said of the plan "If they do not change, I do not believe, on the basis of the mandate I have been given by the EU27 that we can proceed."
Johnson's posturing is nothing new, but its timing suggests the PM is only too aware of the critical upcoming fortnight.
Signing off in The Sun, by stating: "We are leaving in 25 days. We can do it with a deal if the EU is willing. But they should be under no illusions or misapprehensions. There will be no more dither or delay. On October 31 we are going to get Brexit done."