Boris Johnson claims everyone can stop talking about Brexit after end of January if he wins General Election
Boris Johnson has claimed everyone can stop talking about Brexit altogether after the end of January, as he believes the UK will be out of the EU by then.
Speaking to ITV News Political Editor Robert Peston, the prime minister has assured the British public if he wins the General Election he will stop talking about the subject of Brexit come January 2020.
He said: "We will have got Brexit done, and you will find, what will happen is the parliamentary agony will be over, the political agony will be over and the misery and tedium and procrastination that been going on will be over."
If the Conservative Party win a majority at the General Election, they will put their Brexit deal before Parliament once again and if it is passed, Mr Johnson has pledged the UK will be out of the EU by 31 January 2020.
He also rejected the claim he forced MPs to support his deal, otherwise they would be dropped as candidates.
In response to being quizzed whether he had forced MPs to sign up to the Withdrawal Agreement, Mr Johnson said: "The great thing about our deal is that we have it agreed and supported by every single one of the MPs.
"I have not forced them, that's totally unfair, there was absolutely no lobotomy."
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has previously said Mr Johnson’s promise to “get Brexit done” is a “fraud on the British people”, adding that Mr Johnson’s deal is “just the beginning of years” of negotiations.
Mr Johnson, asked on ITV’s Peston if everybody will stop talking about Brexit after the end of January, said: “Yes, and now let me say something.
“We will have got Brexit done and you will find that it moves, because what will happen is that the parliamentary agony will be over, and the political agony will be over, and the misery and tedium and procrastination that’s been going on will be over.”
It was suggested to Mr Johnson that he could not achieve Brexit with a year, and it was pointed out to him how long it took to negotiate Theresa May’s deal and a Canadian free trade deal.
The Prime Minister told Peston: “Have you ever known, have you ever known two countries start free trade negotiations or start negotiations on a new deal when they were already, already in perfect alignment in regulatory terms and had zero tariffs and zero quotas between them? That’s where we are.”
Also appearing on Peston's Wednesday night show was Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who categorically ruled out her party taking part in a potential coalition government.
She added: "But we want to lock Boris Johnson out of Downing Street if we possibly can and actually Scotland can play a big part in that because the SNP are the main challengers in every Tory held seat in Scotland.
"And we would look to have some sort of progressive alliance with other parties to do that if the Parliamentary arithmetic allows it. I don’t favour formal coalitions.”
Watch the full Boris Johnson interview @itvpeston and watch the Peston show at 11.15pm on ITV.