Boris calls on Government to come up with Brexit plan

Boris Johnson has called on the Government to come up with a Brexit plan, as he compared the "contagious mourning" of those who voted to Remain in the EU to that seen in the days after the death of Princess Diana.

The former Mayor of London criticised the government for offering a "binary choice" on the EU, "without being willing - in the event that people voted Leave - to explain how this can be made to work in the interests of the UK and Europe".

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson, who was expected to run for the top job at Number 10 following his prominent role in the Leave campaign until he ruled out such a bid last Thursday, said the tens of thousand of people who turned out to protest in London over the weekend against plans to leave the EU were in a "state of some confusion".

"There is, among a section of the population, a kind of hysteria, a contagious mourning of the kind that I remember in 1997 after the death of the Princess of Wales," he wrote.

"It is not about the EU, of course; or not solely. A great many of these protesters – like dear old Geldof – are in a state of some confusion about the EU and what it does."

He said the "the crowds of young people" were "experiencing the last psychological tremors of Project Fear", adding that the country "cannot wait until mid-September" for a new prime minister to explain how the post Brexit world will benefit Britain.

Thousands gathered in London on Saturday to protest against the UK leaving the EU. Credit: PA
The March for Europe demonstration outside Parliament. Credit: PA
People hold anti-Brexit banners. Credit: PA