Boris Johnson reaches out to Remainers

Britain would be “mad” if it ended up with a Brexit settlement which kept the country bound by EU rules, according to Boris Johnson, who was in upbeat mood about leaving the EU, describing it as the “grounds for much more hope than fear”.

But the Foreign Secretary refused to rule out the possibility that he might resign if the government negotiated a soft Brexit. The speech was part Valentine’s card, part knuckle dusting, part job application.