Tough Brexit road ahead for Johnson

On his first day as British prime minister on Thursday, Boris Johnson told Parliament that he hoped the European Union would rethink its refusal to make any changes to the Brexit deal. Stressing that no "self-respecting" country could accept the "withdrawal agreement", Johnson said that with energy and optimism, the EU could be convinced.

But, he added, if Brussels couldn't be persuaded to do so, "we will of course have to leave ... without an agreement". He stressed that Britain is better prepared for that scenario than many would like to believe, but more work has to be done for that outcome. "In the 98 days that remain to us, we must turbo-charge our preparations to make sure there is as little disruption as possible to our national life," Johnson said, referring to the Brexit deadline of Oct 31.

After winning the Conservative Party's leadership election on Tuesday and a day before he was sworn in as the prime minister, Johnson had vowed to deliver Brexit, unite the country, energize the economy and defeat the opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.