boris johnson resignation speech transcript

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Boris Johnson's final speech as Prime Minister: 6 September 2022

Boris Johnson gave his final speech as Prime Minister on the steps of Downing Street.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, accompanied by his wife Carrie, departs No.10 Downing Street.

Boris Johnson’s final speech as Prime Minister

Well this is it folks

thanks to all of you for coming out so early this morning

In only a couple of hours from now I will be in Balmoral to see Her Majesty The Queen

and the torch will finally be passed to a new Conservative leader

the baton will be handed over in what has unexpectedly turned out to be a relay race

they changed the rules half-way through but never mind that now

and through that lacquered black door a new Prime Minister will shortly go to meet a fantastic group of public servants

the people who got Brexit done

the people who delivered the fastest vaccine roll out in Europe

and never forget - 70 per cent of the entire population got a dose within 6 months, faster than any comparable country

that is government for you – that’s this conservative government

the people who organised those prompt early supplies of weapons to the heroic Ukrainian armed forces,

an action that may very well have helped change the course of the biggest European war for 80 years

And because of the speed and urgency of what you did – everybody involved in this government

to get this economy moving again from July last year in spite of all opposition, all the naysayers

we have and will continue to have that economic strength

to give people the cash they need to get through this energy crisis that has been caused by Putin’s vicious war

And I know that Liz Truss and this compassionate Conservative government will do everything we can to get people through this crisis

And this country will endure it and we will win

and if Putin thinks that he can succeed by blackmailing or bullying the British people then he is utterly deluded

and the reason we will have those funds now and in the future is because we Conservatives understand the vital symmetry between government action

and free market capitalist private sector enterprise

we are delivering on those huge manifesto commitments

making streets safer – neighbourhood crime down 38 per cent in the last three years

13,790 more police on the streets

building more hospitals – and yes we will have 50,000 more nurses by the end of this parliament and 40 more hospitals by the end of the decade

putting record funding into our schools and into teachers’ pay

giving everyone over 18 a lifetime skills guarantee so they can keep upskilling throughout their lives

3 new high speed rail lines including northern powerhouse rail

colossal road programmes from the Pennines to Cornwall,

the roll-out of gigabit broadband up over the last three years, since you were kind enough to elect me, up from 7 per cent of our country’s premises having gigabit broadband to 70 per cent today.

And we are of course providing the short and the long term solutions for our energy needs

and not just using more of our own domestic hydrocarbons but going up by 2030 to 50 GW of wind power, that is half this country’s energy electricity needs from offshore wind

alone, a new nuclear reactor every year

and looking at what is happening in this country, the changes that are taking place,

that is why the private sector is investing more venture capital investment than China itself

more billion pound tech companies sprouting here than in France, Germany and Israel combined

and as a result unemployment as I leave office, down to lows not seen since I was about ten years old and bouncing around on a space hopper

and on the subject of bouncing around and future careers

let me say that I am now like one of those booster rockets that has fulfilled its function

and I will now be gently re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down invisibly in some remote and obscure corner of the pacific

And like Cincinnatus I am returning to my plough

and I will be offering this government nothing but the most fervent support

this is a tough time for the economy

this is a tough time for families up and down the country

we can and we will get through it and we will come out stronger the other side but I say to my fellow Conservatives it is time for the politics to be over folks

and it’s time for us all to get behind Liz Truss and her programme

and deliver for the people of this country

because that is what the people of this country want, that’s what they need and that’s what they deserve

I am proud to have discharged the promises I made my party when you were kind enough to choose me,

winning the biggest majority since 1987 and the biggest share of the vote since 1979.

delivering Brexit

delivering our manifesto commitments – including social care

helping people up and down the country

ensuring that Britain is once again standing tall in the world

speaking with clarity and authority

from Ukraine to the AUKUS pact with America and Australia

because we are one whole and entire United Kingdom whose diplomats, security services and armed forces are so globally admired

and as I leave I believe our union is so strong that those who want to break it up, will keep trying but they will never ever succeed

thank you to everyone behind me in this building for looking after me and my family over the last three years so well including Dilyn, the dog

and if Dilyn and Larry can put behind them their occasional difficulties, then so can the Conservative party

and above all thanks to you, the British people, to the voters for giving me the chance to serve

all of you who worked so tirelessly together to beat covid to put us where we are today

Together we have laid foundations that will stand the test of time

whether by taking back control of our laws or putting in vital new infrastructure

great solid masonry on which we will continue to build together

paving the path of prosperity now & for future generations

and I will be supporting Liz Truss and our new government every step of the way.

Thank you all very much.

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Text of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s resignation speech

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks to media next to 10 Downing Street in London, Thursday, July 7, 2022. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has agreed to resign, his office said Thursday, ending an unprecedented political crisis over his future that has paralyzed Britain’s government. An official in Johnson’s Downing Street office confirmed the prime minister would announce his resignation later. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been made. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

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LONDON (AP) — Here is the full text of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s resignation speech, delivered Thursday outside 10 Downing St:

“It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister.

“And I’ve agreed with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench MPs, that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now and the timetable will be announced next week.

“And I’ve today appointed a Cabinet to serve, as I will, until a new leader is in place.

“So I want to say to the millions of people who voted for us in 2019, many of them voting Conservative for the first time: Thank you for that incredible mandate, the biggest Conservative majority since 1987, the biggest share of the vote since 1979.

“And the reason I have fought so hard in the last few days to continue to deliver that mandate in person was not just because I wanted to do so, but because I felt it was my job, my duty, my obligation to you to continue to do what we promised in 2019.

“And of course, I’m immensely proud of the achievements of this government, from getting Brexit done to settling our relations with the continent for over half a century, reclaiming the power for this country to make its own laws in Parliament, getting us all through the pandemic, delivering the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, the fastest exit from lockdown, and in the last few months, leading the West in standing up to Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.

“And let me say now, to the people of Ukraine, that I know that we in the U.K. will continue to back your fight for freedom for as long as it takes.

“And at the same time in this country, we’ve been pushing forward a vast program of investment in infrastructure and skills and technology — the biggest in a century. Because if I have one insight into human beings, it is that genius and talent and enthusiasm and imagination are evenly distributed throughout the population.

“But opportunity is not, and that’s why we must keep levelling up, keep unleashing the potential ever every part of the United Kingdom. And if we can do that, in this country, we will be the most prosperous in Europe.

“And in the last few days, I tried to persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments when we’re delivering so much and when we have such a vast mandate and when we’re actually only a handful of points behind in the polls, even in mid-term after quite a few months of pretty relentless sledging and when the economic scene is so difficult domestically and internationally.

“And I regret not to have been successful in those arguments and of course it’s painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself.

“But as we’ve seen at Westminster, the herd instinct is powerful and when the herd moves, it moves.

“And my friends in politics, no-one is remotely indispensable and our brilliant and Darwinian system will produce another leader, equally committed to taking this country forward through tough times.

“Not just helping families to get through it, but changing and improving the way we do things, cutting burdens on businesses and families and yes, cutting taxes, because that is the way to generate the growth and the income we need to pay for great public services.

“And to that new leader, I say whoever he or she may be, I say I will give you as much support as I can. And to you, the British public.

“I know that there will be many people who are relieved and perhaps quite a few who will also be disappointed. And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world.

“But them’s the breaks.

“I want to thank Carrie and our children, and all the members of my family who have had to put up with so much for so long.

“I want to thank the peerless British civil service for all the help and support that you have given our police, our emergency services and, of course, our fantastic NHS, who at critical moment, helped to extend my own period in office, as well as our armed services and our agencies that are so admired around the world.

“And our indefatigable Conservative Party members and supporters whose selfless campaigning makes our democracy possible. I want to thank the wonderful staff here at Chequers – here at Number 10, and of course at Chequers. And our fantastic prot force (protection force) detectives, the one group by the way, who never leak.

“Above all, I want to thank you, the British public, for the immense privilege that you have given me and I want you to know that from now on until the new prime minister is in place, your interests will be served and the government of the country will be carried on.

“Being prime minister is an education in itself. I have traveled to every part of the United Kingdom and, in addition to the beauty of our natural world, I have found so many people possessed of such boundless British originality and so willing to tackle old problems in new ways that I know that even if things can sometimes seem dark now, our future together is golden.

“Thank you all very much. Thank you.”

boris johnson resignation speech transcript

Coffee House

Full text: Boris Johnson’s resignation speech

7 July 2022, 12:00pm

Boris Johnson

Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you. It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister. And I’ve agreed with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench MPs, that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now and the timetable will be announced next week. I’ve today appointed a Cabinet to serve, as I will, until a new leader is in place.

So I want to say to the millions of people who voted for us in 2019, many of them voting conservative for the first time. Thank you for that incredible mandate. The biggest conservative majority since 1987, the biggest share of the vote since 1979. And the reason I have fought so hard in the last few days to continue to deliver that mandate in person was not just because I wanted to do so, but because I felt it was my job, my duty, my obligation to you to continue to do what we promised in 2019.

‘I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But them’s the breaks’

Of course, I’m immensely proud of the achievements of this government from getting Brexit done to settling our relations with the continent for over half a century, reclaiming the power for this country to make its own laws in Parliament. Getting us all through the pandemic. Delivering the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, the fastest exit from lockdown. And in the last few months, leading the West in standing up to Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.

And let me say now to the people of Ukraine that I know that we in the UK will continue to back your fight for freedom for as long as it takes. And at the same time in this country we’ve been pushing forward a vast programme of investment in infrastructure and skills and technology, the biggest in a century. Because if I had one insight into human beings, it is the genius and talent and enthusiasm and imagination are evenly distributed throughout the population, but opportunity is not. That’s why we must keep levelling up, keep unleashing the potential of every part of the United Kingdom. And if we can do that in this country, we will be the most prosperous in Europe.

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In the last few days, I’ve tried to persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments when we’re delivering so much and when we have such a vast mandate and when we’re actually only a handful of points behind in the polls, even in mid-term, after quite a few months of pretty relentless sledging. And when the economic scene is so difficult domestically and internationally, and I regret not to have been successful in those arguments.

Of course, it’s painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself. But as we’ve seen at Westminster, the herd instinct is powerful. And when the herd moves, it moves. And my friends, in politics, no one is remotely indispensable, and our brilliant and Darwinian system will produce another leader equally committed to taking this country forward through tough times, not just helping families to get through it, but changing and improving the way we do things. Cutting burdens on businesses and families and yes, cutting taxes, because that is the way to generate the growth and the income we need to pay for great public services.

To that new leader, I say, whoever he or she may be, I say, I will give you as much support as I can. And to you, the British public. I know that there will be many people who are relieved and perhaps quite a few who will also be disappointed. And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But them’s the breaks.

I want to thank Carrie and our children, and all the members of my family who have had to put up with so much for so long. I want to thank the peerless British civil service for all the help and support that you have given our police, our emergency services and of course our fantastic NHS who at critical moment helped to extend my own period in office as well as our armed services and our agencies that are so admired around the world and our indefatigable Conservative party members and supporters whose selfless campaigning makes our democracy possible. I want to thank the wonderful staff here at No. 10 and of course at Chequers and our fantastic protection force detectives. The one group, by the way, who never leak.

Above all, I want to thank you, the British public, for the immense privilege that you have given me. I want you to know that from now on, until the new Prime Minister is in place, your interests will be served. And the government of the country will be carried on. Being Prime Minister is an education in itself. I’ve travelled to every part of the United Kingdom, and in addition to the beauty of our natural world, I find so many people possessed of such boundless British originality and so willing to tackle old problems in new ways that I know that even if things can sometimes seem dark now, our future together is golden. Thank you all very much.

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's resignation speech

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Boris Johnson's resignation speech in full: 'Darwinian' politics, a Westminster 'herd instinct' and a warning to colleagues

The prime minister made clear his reluctance to leave office, touching on personal highlights of his time in office as well as making a vow to the people of Ukraine.

Foreign news reporter @MikeRDrummond

Thursday 7 July 2022 17:54, UK

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson reads a statement outside 10 Downing Street, London, formally resigning as Conservative Party leader after ministers and MPs made clear his position was untenable. He will remain as Prime Minister until a successor is in place. Picture date: Thursday July 7, 2022.

As he stood outside Number 10 and resigned as prime minister, Boris Johnson spoke of the herd instinct in parliament, the 'Darwinian' system that will produce the next leader... and warned colleagues that 'no one is remotely indispensable'.

Here's his resignation speech in full:

Politics Hub: Reaction to Johnson's 'painful' resignation statement - follow live

"Good afternoon everybody.

"It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister, and I've agreed with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench MPs, that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now and the timetable will be announced next week.

"And I've today appointed a cabinet to serve as I will until the new leader is in place.

"So I want to say to the millions of people who voted for us in 2019, many of them voting conservative for the first time: thank you for that incredible mandate.

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Boris Johnson’s speech in full: Watch and read every word of the Prime Minister’s resignation announcement

Boris johnson has finally announced his resignation as prime minister after facing a cabinet revolt of unprecedented scale.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson makes a statement in front of 10 Downing Street in central London on July 7, 2022. - Johnson quit as Conservative party leader, after three tumultuous years in charge marked by Brexit, Covid and mounting scandals. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Boris Johnson has announced he is stepping down as Prime Minister in a statement outside Downing Street following a Cabinet revolt of unprecedented scale .

He said it was “clearly the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader’ ‘.

More than 50 MPs resigned from Government in a mass exodus triggered by the shock departures of Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid on Tuesday evening.

Mr Johnson remained defiant in the following 36 hours, and was determined to plough on in the face of mounting opposition – but on Thursday morning he concluded the game was up.

The Prime Minister spoke to Tory 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady and finally agreed to stand down, before addressing the nation at 12.30pm – here is his resignation statement in full.

Boris Johnson’s statement in full

Good afternoon everybody. Good afternoon, Thank you. Thank you.

It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party, and therefore a new prime minister.

And I’ve agreed with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench MPs, that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now and the timetable will be announced next week.

And I’ve today appointed a cabinet to serve as I will until a new leader is in place.

So I want to say to the millions of people who voted for us in 2019, many of them voting Conservative for the first time – thank you For that incredible mandate.

The biggest Conservative majority since 1987, the biggest share of the vote since 1979.

And the reason I have fought so hard in the last few days to continue to deliver that mandate in person was not just because I wanted to do so, but because I felt it was my job, my duty, My obligation to you to continue to do what we promised in 2019.

And of course, I’m immensely proud of the achievements of this Government, from getting Brexit done to settling our relations with the continent for over half a century, reclaiming the power for this country to make its own laws in Parliament.

Getting us all through the pandemic delivering the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, the fastest exit from lockdown and in the last few months, leading the West in standing up to Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.

And let me say no to the people of Ukraine, that I know that we in the UK will continue to back your fight for freedom for as long as it takes.

And at the same time in this country, we’ve been pushing forward a vast program of investment in infrastructure and skills and technology, the biggest in a century.

Because if I have one insight into human beings, it is the genius and talent and enthusiasm and imagination are evenly distributed throughout the population, but opportunity is not.

And that’s why we must keep leveling up, keep unleashing the potential, live every part of the United Kingdom.

And if we can do that in this country, we will be the most prosperous in Europe.

And in the last few days I’ve tried to persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments when we’re delivering so much.

When we have such a vast mandate and when we’re actually only a handful of points behind in the polls, even in midterm, after quite a few months of pretty relentless sledging and when the economic scene is so difficult domestically and internationally.

And I regret not to have been successful in those arguments, and of course it’s painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself.

But as we’ve seen in Westminster, the herd instinct is powerful – when the herd moves it moves.

And my friends in politics, no one is remotely indispensable, and our brilliant and Darwinian system will produce another leader equally committed to taking this country forward through tough times.

Not just helping families to get through it, but changing and improving the way we do things, cutting burdens on businesses and families and yes, cutting taxes because that is the way to generate the growth and the income we need to pay for great public services.

And to that new leader, I say, whoever he or she may be, I say I will give you as much support as I can, and to you the British public.

I know that there will be many people who are relieved, and perhaps quite a few who will also be disappointed. And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world, but them’s the breaks.

I want to thank Carrie and our children, all members of my family who have had to put up with so much for so long.

I want to thank the peerless British Civil Service for all the help and support that you have given our police, our emergency services and of course, fantastic NHS who at critical moment helped to extend my own period in office as well as our armed services and our agencies that are so admired around the world.

And our indefatigable Conservative Party members and supporters, whose selfless campaigning makes our democracy possible.

I want to thank the wonderful staff here at Number 10 and of course at Chequers, and our fantastic detectives – the one group, by the way, who never leak, above all.

I want to thank you the British public for the immense privilege that you have given me.

And I want you to know that from now on until the new Prime Minister is in place, your interests will be served and the Government of the country will be carried on.

Being Prime minister is an education in itself.

I’ve traveled to every part of the United Kingdom and in addition to the beauty of our natural world, I found so many people possessed of such boundless british originality and so willing to tackle old problems in new ways that I know that even if things can sometimes seem dark now, our future together is golden.

Thank you all very much. Thank you.

Boris Johnson's resignation speech in front of No 10 Downing Street

Boris Johnson, one the most controversial British leaders in modern times, said the timing of the leadership contest would be announced next week

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Footage: Reuters

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And I've agreed with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench MPs, that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now. And the timetable will be announced next week. And I've today appointed a cabinet to serve as I will until a new leader is in place. So I want to say to the millions of people who voted for us in 2019, many of them voting Conservative for the first time, thank you for that incredible mandate, the biggest Conservative majority since 1987, the biggest share of the vote since 1979.

And the reason I have fought so hard in the last few days to continue to deliver that mandate in person was not just because I wanted to do so, but because I felt it was my job, my duty, my obligation to you to continue to do what we promised in 2019. And of course, I'm immensely proud of the achievements of this government from getting Brexit done to settling our relations with the continent for over half a century, reclaiming the power for this country to make its own laws in parliament, getting us all through the pandemic, delivering the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, the fastest exit from lockdown, and in the last few months leading the west in standing up to Putin's aggression in Ukraine.

And let me say now to the people of Ukraine that I know that we in the UK will continue to back your fight for freedom for as long as it takes. And at the same time in this country we've been pushing forward a vast programme of investment in infrastructure, and skills, and technology, the biggest in a century, because if I had one insight into human beings, it is the genius, and talent, and enthusiasm, and imagination are evenly distributed throughout the population.

But opportunity is not. And that's why we must keep levelling up. Keep unleashing the potential of every part of the United Kingdom. And if we can do that in this country, we will be the most prosperous in Europe.

And in the last few days I've tried to persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments when we're delivering so much, and when we have such a vast mandate, and when we're actually only a handful of points behind in the polls, even in mid-term after quite a few months of pretty relentless sledging, and when the economic scene is so difficult domestically and internationally. And I regret not to have been successful in those arguments. And of course it's painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself.

But as we've seen at Westminster, the herd instinct is powerful, and when the herd moves it moves. And my friends, in politics, no one is remotely indispensable. And our brilliant and Darwinian system will produce another leader equally committed to taking this country forward through tough times, not just helping families to get through it, but changing and improving the way we do things, cutting burdens on businesses and families, and yes, cutting taxes, because that is the way to generate the growth and the income we need to pay for great public services.

And to that new leader, I say, whoever he or she may be, I say I will give you as much support as I can. And to you, the British public, I know that there will be many people who are relieved and perhaps quite a few who will also be disappointed. And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But them's the breaks.

I want to thank Carrie and our children, all the members of my family who have had to put up with so much for so long. I want to thank the peerless British civil service for all the help and support that you have given our police, our emergency services, and of course, our fantastic NHS, who at critical moments helped to extend my own period in office, as well as our armed services and our agencies that are so admired around the world, and our indefatigable Conservative party members and supporters whose selfless campaigning makes our democracy possible. I want to thank the wonderful staff here at Chequers... here at number 10, and of course, at Chequers and our fantastic protforce detectives, the one group, by the way, who never leak.

Above all, I want to thank you, the British public, for the immense privilege that you have given me. And I want you to know that from now on, until the new prime minister is in place, your interests will be served, and the government of the country will be carried on. Being prime minister is an education in itself.

I've travelled to every part of the United Kingdom. And in addition to the beauty of our natural world, I found so many people possessed of such boundless British originality and so willing to tackle old problems in new ways that I know that even if things can sometimes seem dark now, our future together is golden. Thank you all very much. Thank you.

International Edition

'But them's the breaks': Read Boris Johnson's resignation speech

Here is the full text of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's resignation speech, delivered Thursday outside 10 Downing St:

"It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister.

"And I've agreed with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench MPs, that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now and the timetable will be announced next week.

"And I've today appointed a Cabinet to serve, as I will, until a new leader is in place.

"So I want to say to the millions of people who voted for us in 2019, many of them voting Conservative for the first time: Thank you for that incredible mandate, the biggest Conservative majority since 1987, the biggest share of the vote since 1979.

"And of course, I'm immensely proud of the achievements of this government, from getting Brexit done to settling our relations with the continent for over half a century, reclaiming the power for this country to make its own laws in Parliament, getting us all through the pandemic, delivering the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, the fastest exit from lockdown, and in the last few months, leading the West in standing up to Putin's aggression in Ukraine.

"And let me say now, to the people of Ukraine, that I know that we in the U.K. will continue to back your fight for freedom for as long as it takes.

"And at the same time in this country, we've been pushing forward a vast program of investment in infrastructure and skills and technology -- the biggest in a century. Because if I have one insight into human beings, it is that genius and talent and enthusiasm and imagination are evenly distributed throughout the population.

"But opportunity is not, and that's why we must keep levelling up, keep unleashing the potential ever every part of the United Kingdom. And if we can do that, in this country, we will be the most prosperous in Europe.

"And in the last few days, I tried to persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments when we're delivering so much and when we have such a vast mandate and when we're actually only a handful of points behind in the polls, even in mid-term after quite a few months of pretty relentless sledging and when the economic scene is so difficult domestically and internationally.

"And I regret not to have been successful in those arguments and of course it's painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself.

"But as we've seen at Westminster, the herd instinct is powerful and when the herd moves, it moves.

"And my friends in politics, no-one is remotely indispensable and our brilliant and Darwinian system will produce another leader, equally committed to taking this country forward through tough times.

"Not just helping families to get through it, but changing and improving the way we do things, cutting burdens on businesses and families and yes, cutting taxes, because that is the way to generate the growth and the income we need to pay for great public services.

"And to that new leader, I say whoever he or she may be, I say I will give you as much support as I can. And to you, the British public.

"I know that there will be many people who are relieved and perhaps quite a few who will also be disappointed. And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world.

"But them's the breaks.

"I want to thank Carrie and our children, and all the members of my family who have had to put up with so much for so long.

"I want to thank the peerless British civil service for all the help and support that you have given our police, our emergency services and, of course, our fantastic NHS, who at critical moment, helped to extend my own period in office, as well as our armed services and our agencies that are so admired around the world.

"And our indefatigable Conservative Party members and supporters whose selfless campaigning makes our democracy possible. I want to thank the wonderful staff here at Chequers -- here at Number 10, and of course at Chequers. And our fantastic prot force (protection force) detectives, the one group by the way, who never leak.

"Above all, I want to thank you, the British public, for the immense privilege that you have given me and I want you to know that from now on until the new prime minister is in place, your interests will be served and the government of the country will be carried on.

"Being prime minister is an education in itself. I have traveled to every part of the United Kingdom and, in addition to the beauty of our natural world, I have found so many people possessed of such boundless British originality and so willing to tackle old problems in new ways that I know that even if things can sometimes seem dark now, our future together is golden.

"Thank you all very much. Thank you."

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International

The latest on Boris Johnson's resignation

By Tara John , Aditi Sangal , Hafsa Khalil, Ivana Kottasová and Adrienne Vogt, CNN

Read Boris Johnson's resignation speech in full

UK prime minister Boris Johnson makes a resignation speech outside 10 Downing Street in London, England, on July 7.

Here is Johnson's resignation speech in full :

Good afternoon, everybody. Good afternoon. Thank you. Thank you. It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister, and I've agreed with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench MPs, that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now, and the timetable will be announced next week.

And I have today appointed a Cabinet to serve -- as I will -- until a new leader is in place.

So I want to say to the millions of people who voted for us in 2019, many of them voting Conservative for the first time. Thank you for that incredible mandate -- the biggest Conservative majority since 1987, the biggest share of a vote since 1979.

And of course, I'm immensely proud of the achievements of this government -- from getting Brexit done to settling our relations with the continent for over half a century, reclaiming the power for this country to make its own laws in Parliament, getting us all through the pandemic, delivering the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, the fastest exit from lockdown, and in the last few months, leading the West in standing up to Putin's aggression in Ukraine.

And let me say now, to the people of Ukraine, that I know that we in the UK will continue to back your fight for freedom for as long as it takes.

And at the same time in this country, we've been pushing forward a vast program of investment in infrastructure, in skills and technology -- the biggest in a century. Because if I had one insight into human beings, it is that genius and talent and enthusiasm and imagination are evenly distributed throughout the population. But opportunity is not. And that's why we must keep leveling up, keep unleashing the potential in every part of United Kingdom. And if we can do that, in this country, we will be the most prosperous in Europe.

And in the last few days, I've tried to persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments when we're delivering so much, when we have such a vast mandate and when we're actually only a handful of points behind in the polls -- even in midterm after quite a few months and pretty relentless sledging -- and when the economic scene is so difficult domestically and internationally.

I regret not to have been successful in those arguments, and of course, it's painful, not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself. But as we've seen in Westminster, the herd instinct is powerful when the herd moves, it moves.

And my friends in politics, no one is remotely indispensable, and our brilliant and Darwinian system will produce another leader, equally committed to taking this country forward through tough times. Not just helping families to get through it, but changing and improving the way we do things -- cutting burdens on businesses and families and yes, cutting taxes, because that is the way to generate the growth and the income we need to pay for great public services.

And to that new leader, I say wherever he or she may be, I say I will give you as much support as I can. And to you, the British public -- I know that there will be many people who are relieved and perhaps quite a few will also be disappointed. And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But them's the breaks.

I want to thank Carrie and our children to all members of my family who have had to put up with so much for so long. I want to thank the peerless British civil service for all the help and support that you have given our police, our emergency services, and of course, our fantastic NHS who at critical moment helped to extend my own period in office, as well as our armed services and our agencies that are so admired around the world and our indefatigable Conservative party members and supporters whose selfless campaigning makes our democracy possible.

I want to thank the wonderful staff here at Chequers -- to here at Number 10 -- and of course at Chequers and our fantastic prop force detectives, the one group by the way, who never leak.

Above all, I want to thank you, the British public, for the immense privilege that you have given me. And I want you to know that from now on, until the new prime minister is in place, your interests will be served and the government of the country will be carried on.

Being Prime Minister is an education in itself. I've traveled to every part of the United Kingdom and in addition to the beauty of our natural world, I find so many people possessed of such boundless British originality and so willing to tackle old problems in new ways, that I know that even if things can sometimes seem dark now, our future together is golden.

Thank you all very much. Thank you.

"Them's the breaks," Johnson says

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson makes a statement in front of 10 Downing Street, London, England, on July 7.

While Johnson expressed sadness about his resignation, he told the nation in a televised speech that "them's the breaks."

He added: "Above all, I want to thank you, the British public, for the immense privilege that you have given me. And I want you to know that from now on, until the new prime minister is in place, your interests will be served and the government of the country will be carried on."

"No one is remotely indispensable" in politics, Boris Johnson says

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson makes a statement at Downing Street in London, England, on July 7.

As he announced his resignation, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the nature of politics is that "no one is remotely indispensable."

"As we've seen at Westminster, the herd instinct is powerful — when the herd moves, it moves. And my friends, in politics, no one is remotely indispensable," he said Thursday. "And our brilliant and Darwinian system will produce another leader, equally committed to taking this country forward through tough times."

Johnson said he will support his successor as much as he can. "To that new leader — whoever he or she may be — I say I will give you as much support as I can."

He also addressed the British public, saying he is sad to be leaving the "best job in the world."

"To you, the British public: I know that there will be many people who are relieved and perhaps, quite a few will also be disappointed. And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world."

Breaking: Boris Johnson resigns

Prime Minister Boris Johnson addresses the nation as he announces his resignation outside 10 Downing Street, on July 7, in London, England.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced his resignation as Conservative party leader following a wave of government resignations.

"It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister," he said on Thursday.

"I'd agreed with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench MPs, that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now and the timetable will be announced next week."

“And I’ve today appointed a Cabinet to serve, as I will, until a new leader is in place.”

"So I want to say to the millions of people who voted for us in 2019, many of them voted Conservative, for the first time. Thank you for that incredible mandate. The biggest Conservative majority, since 1987," he added.

As recently as last night Johnson said he intended to stay and fight. But the avalanche of resignations from government ministers continued through to Thursday, with letter after letter criticizing the scandal-hit leader and imploring Johnson to step down.

Johnson's departure marks a remarkable downfall for a Prime Minister who was once seen as having political superpowers, with an appeal that transcended traditional party lines. He won a landslide victory in December 2019 on the promise of delivering a Brexit deal and leading the UK to a bright future outside the European Union. But his premiership unraveled in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The most immediate cause of his demise was the fallout from Johnson's botched handling of a scandal surrounding a government official who is alleged to have groped two people at a dinner last week.

But Johnson has faced numerous other scandals that have hit his standing in the polls -- despite his 80-seat landslide general election victory less than three years ago. These include accusations of using donor money inappropriately to pay for a refurbishment of his Downing Street home and ordering MPs to vote in such a way that would protect a colleague who had breached lobbying rules.

Happening now: Boris Johnson is about to speak

The podium has now been set up outside Downing Street, where UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is about to make a statement in which he is expected to resign as the leader of the ruling Conservative party.

He may stay on as caretaker Prime Minister until a new successor is picked by his party.

Johnson's premiership has been marred by a series of scandals since his landslide victory in 2019. His latest woes erupted last Thursday over former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher, who resigned amid allegations he groped two guests at a private dinner the night before.

What landed Johnson in deeper trouble were the contortions that Downing Street press officers went into trying to explain why Pincher was ever in government in the first place, amid a wave of revelations of his previous conduct.

This week more than 50 members of his government quit, with letter after letter denouncing Johnson and asking him to stand down.

Opposition Labour party will bring a vote of no confidence if Johnson allowed to "cling on"

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in London, England, on July 4.

Opposition Labour party leader Keir Starmer told Sky News that his party will bring forward a vote of confidence in Boris Johnson if the Conservatives allow him to "cling on" to power.

Johnson is expected to remain as a caretaker prime minister until a new Conservative leader is picked.

But Starmer said the Conservatives "can't inflict him on the country for the next few months. If they don't get rid of him, we will bring that vote of no confidence in the national interest because we can't go on with this broken government, led by this discredited Prime Minister."

UK stocks and pound gain amid Johnson resignation news

From CNN's Robert North

UK stocks are higher in response to news that Boris Johnson will resign. The FTSE 100 was trading up just over 1% in the opening hours of trade. The British pound had also gained slightly, trading 0.75% higher at 1.20 against the dollar, recovering slightly from two-year lows hit earlier this week.

The British economy still faces serious challenges as it tackles high inflation, slowing growth and a cost of living crisis.

Walid Koudmani, chief market analyst at broker XTB, wrote in a note to clients: "Make no mistake however, the [pound] remains severely weak due to the dire state of the UK economy which is underperforming its peers, [and] likely to enter into a recession while the Bank of England refuses to hike interest rates aggressively to deal with the escalating inflation."

Johnson starts appointing new ministers

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is expected to resign as Conservative Party leader today, has been appointing new cabinet ministers.

Greg Clark was appointed as the new Levelling Up Secretary, replacing Michael Gove who was fired by Johnson on Wednesday, according to Downing Street's Twitter account. James Cleverly was appointed as Secretary of State for Education, it added.

Johnson could remain as a caretaker Prime Minister until a new leader is picked, but critics worry that he may attempt to cling onto office. Many in his party want him to leave today and hand the reins over to another caretaker.

"I know that guy and I'm telling you -- he doesn't think it's over, he's thinking 'there's a war, weird shit happens in a war, play for time play for time, I can still get out of this, I got a mandate, members love me, get to September,'" Johnson's former senior advisor Dominic Cummings said on Twitter .

British Foreign Secretary cuts short Indonesia trip

Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, right, speaks with Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, left, during their bilateral meeting at the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on July 7.

The British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is cutting short her trip to a G20 meeting in Indonesia to return to London, Britain's PA news agency reported on Thursday.

Truss is widely seen as one of the potential contenders for the leader of the Conservative Party.

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Boris Johnson gives his speech on 7 July

Boris Johnson’s resignation speech: what he said, and what he meant

Analysis: PM was bullish, resentful and unrepentant as he reprised what he saw as his achievements

All the day’s politics news – live

Boris Johnson’s unrepentant resignation speech was delivered with trademark bullishness , and shot through with resentment against those in his own party who have moved against him in recent days. We look at what he said – and what he meant.

What he said

I’ve agreed with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench MPs, that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now. The timetable will be announced next week and I’ve today appointed a cabinet to serve, as I will, until a new leader is in place.”

What he meant Johnson’s allies were briefing on Thursday morning that he would remain in post until October, while a successor is chosen. But he did not mention a specific date in his speech, perhaps because there is now intense pressure on the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs to speed up the transition.

That could mean a faster leadership contest than envisaged in the discussions between Johnson and Brady or even a handover to a caretaker leader, though Johnson’s emergency mini-reshuffle to form a new cabinet in the minutes before the speech was clearly an attempt to avoid that.

I want to say to the millions of people who voted for us in 2019, many of them voting Conservative for the first time, thank you for that incredible mandate, the biggest Conservative majority since 1987, the biggest share of the vote since 1979. And the reason I have fought so hard in the last few days to continue, to deliver that mandate in person, was not just because I wanted to do so but because I felt it was my job, my duty, my obligation to you, to continue to do what we promised in 2019.

What he meant Johnson’s cabinet colleagues were making clear to him that he had lost the support of his MPs on Tuesday, but his allies were pointing to the mandate he believes he has from the British public – 14m votes.

Of course, given the UK has a parliamentary rather than a presidential system, that mandate belongs to more than 350 individual Tory MPs. Johnson, however, believes it was his own special campaigning magic that won the Conservatives their thumping majority in 2019 and should have given him the right to carry on.

Whether he also felt it was his duty or obligation to continue in office is a moot point, but a sense of duty is not a quality those who know Johnson well tend to ascribe to him, unlike, say, Theresa May.

I’m immensely proud of the achievements of this government, from getting Brexit done to settling our relations with the continent for over half a century. Reclaiming the power for this country to make its own laws in parliament. Getting us all through the pandemic. Delivering the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, the fastest exit from lockdown, and in the last few months, leading the west in standing up to Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.

What he meant This was the “greatest hits” of Johnson’s premiership. It was aimed both at reframing the public narrative away from rule-breaking and lies and towards what he sees as his concrete achievements, and reminding the colleagues who turfed him out that they should be grateful.

An alternative perspective is that he did not “get Brexit done”, as the ongoing wrangle over the Northern Ireland protocol underlines. He botched the handling of the Covid pandemic, and he dragged his party through a humiliating string of self-inflicted scandals.

Let me say now to the people of Ukraine, I know that we in the UK will continue to back your fight for freedom for as long as it takes.”

What he meant Johnson’s ardent fealty to Ukraine’s cause has been one of the defining features of the final months of his premiership, making him popular and well-known in the besieged country.

Cynics have suggested that Johnson occasionally used his close relationship with the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to wriggle out of political tight spots, including dodging a run-in with “red wall” MPs last month in favour of a last-minute trip to Kyiv .

But as he rightly points out here, his replacement by a new leader appears unlikely to shift the UK’s support for Ukraine or its tough stance against Russia.

In the last few days I’ve tried to persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments when we’re delivering so much, when we have such a vast mandate and when we’re actually only a handful of points behind in the polls … But as we’ve seen, at Westminster the herd instinct is powerful and when the herd moves it moves, and, my friends in politics, no one is remotely indispensable.”

What he meant This was Johnson’s most pointed dig against those who moved against him, underlining the extraordinary fact that even in the past 24 hours, as government ministers resigned en masse, he continued to believe he could turn things around.

Those urging him to make a dignified exit included some of his closest erstwhile allies, but instead of acknowledging they may have had a point, he insults them as eccentric and acting as a herd.

This comes despite clear evidence the Conservatives were losing their electoral allure, having badly lost a pair of key byelections last month – one of which, Tiverton and Honiton in Devon, they had previously held with a majority of 24,000 – and polling showing that Johnson himself has become overwhelmingly unpopular.

A recent word cloud prepared by the pollsters JL Partners showed by far the most common description of the prime minister used by voters was “liar”. Whoever Johnson’s successor turns out to be, it seems likely that until he departs to his equivalent of David Cameron’s shepherd’s hut, he will squat on the backbenches nursing a bitter sense of betrayal that he was not allowed to finish his political project (whatever that was).

To you the British public - I know there will be many people who are relieved and perhaps quite a few who will also be disappointed. And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But them’s the breaks.”

What he meant As his behaviour over 72 hours amply demonstrated, Johnson fought with every fibre of his being to cling on to power. But “them’s the breaks”- an Americanism – felt like the closest Johnson came to an acceptance that the game is up. It also had just a touch of the Etonian insouciance with which Cameron ended his resignation speech, turning his back on the podium and whistling his way back through the big black door.

What he didn’t say

The prime minister was fined for breaking lockdown rules, lost a string of crucial byelections, appointed an alleged groper as deputy chief whip and was then accused of lying about it, appalling his own ministers and many of the voters who backed him in 2019. But there was not even a hint of apology in Johnson’s speech for the chaotic melodrama he has dragged his party and the public through.

Boris Johnson
Conservatives
Conservative leadership

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Boris Johnson's resignation speech in full

Read Boris Johnson's resignation speech after months of chaos at the heart of government.

Boris Johnson stands at the podium outside downing street with the famous door in the background

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson makes his resignation statement outside Number 10 Downing Street. Picture by Tim Hammond / No 10 Downing Street

Almost six months since members of his own party started calling for him to resign, Boris Johnson has finally thrown in the towel and committed to leaving his post as prime minister.

The two years and 348 days in charge of the country means he led the country for less time than Theresa May, who he fought so hard to unseat, over a tenure beset with accusations of lying , the mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic and a succession of scandals relating to the conduct of his MPs and his office .

While the country was plunged into a cost of living crisis with prices outstripping wages and millions turning to food banks , the drama swirling around the prime minister became too much for his ministers. More than 50 quit in less than 48 hours, making his position untenable.

Boris Johnson resigned at lunch time on Thursday. This is his speech in full:

Good afternoon everybody. Good afternoon.

It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister. And I’ve agreed with sir Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench MPs, that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now and the timetable will be announced next week. And I’ve today appointed a cabinet to serve, as I will, until a new leader is in place.

So I want to say to the millions of people who voted for us in 2019, many voting Conservative for the first time, thank you for that incredible mandate, the biggest Conservative majority since 1987, the biggest share of a vote since 1979.

The reason I have fought so hard in the last few days to continue to deliver that mandate in person was not just because I wanted to do so but because I felt it was my job, my duty, my obligation to you to continue to do what we promised in 2019.

I, of course, am immensely proud of the achievement s of this government, from getting Brexit done to settling our relations with the continent for over half a century, reclaiming the power for this country to make it’s own laws in Parliament, getting us all through the pandemic, delivering the fastest vaccine roll-out in Europe, delivering the fastest exit from lockdown, and in the last few months leading the West in standing up to Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.

Let me say now, to the people of Ukraine, that we in the UK will continue to back your fight for freedom for as long as it takes. And at the same time in this country we’ve been pushing forward a vast investment in infrastructure, skills and technology, the biggest in a century, because if I have one insight into human beings it is that genius and talent and enthusiasm and imagination are evenly distributed throughout the population. But opportunity is not. And that’s why we must keep levelling up, keep unleashing the potential of every part of the United Kingdom, and if we can do that in this country we will be the most prosperous in Europe.

‘Levelling up is impossible with so much change’: Despair as government chaos impacts actual work
The internet’s best memes as Boris Johnson’s government collapses
Who could replace Boris Johnson as prime minister? Here are the contenders

And in the last few days I’ve tried to persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments when we’re delivering so much and when we have such a vast mandate and when we’re actually just a handful of points behind in the polls, even midterm, after quite a few months of relentless sledging and when the economic scene is so difficult domestically and internationally. And I regret not to have been successful in those arguments. And of course it’s painful not to be able to see through so many of those ideas and projects myself.

But as we’ve seen in Westminster the herd instinct is powerful and when the herd moves it moves. And, my friends in politics, no one is remotely indispensible. And our brilliant and Darwinian system will produce another leader equally committed to taking this country forward through tough times, not just helping families to get through, it but changing and improving the way we do things, cutting burdens on families and businesses and, yes, cutting taxes. As that is the way to generate the growth and income we need to pay for great public services.

And to that new leader, whoever he or she may be, I say I will give you as much support as I can. And to you, the British public, I know that there will be many people who will be relieved and perhaps quite a few who are perhaps disappointed, and I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But them’s the breaks.

I want to thank Carrie and our children and all the members of my family who’ve had to put up with so much for so long. I want to thank the peerless civil services for all the help and support you have given our police, our emergency services, and of course our fantastic NHS who at critical moments helped to extend my own period in office. As well as our armed services and our agencies that are so admired around the world and our indefatigable Conservative party members and supporters whose selfless campaigning makes our democracy possible.

I want to thank the wonderful staff here at Number 10 and of course at Chequers and our fantastic prop force detectives, the one group by the way, who never leak. Above all I want to thank you, the British public, for the immense privilege that you have given me and I want you to know that from now on until the new prime minister is in place, your interests will be served and the government of the country will be carried on.

Being prime minister is an education in itself. I have travelled to every part of the United Kingdom and in addition to the beauty of our natural world I have found so many people, possessed of such boundless British originality and so willing to tackle old problems in new ways that I know that even if things can sometimes seem dark now our future together is golden.

Thank you all very much. Thank you.

Boris Johnson
Conservative Party
Downing street

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July 18, 2018

Full text of Boris Johnson’s resignation speech in the House of Commons

This is the text of the personal statement just delivered by former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in the House of Commons:

Mr Speaker, I want to thank you for granting me this opportunity first to pay tribute to the men and women of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who have done an outstanding job over the last two years. I am very proud that we have rallied the world against Russia’s barbaric use of chemical weapons, with an unprecedented 28 countries joining together to expel 153 spies in protest at what happened in Salisbury. We have rejuvenated the Commonwealth with a superb summit that saw Zimbabwe back on the path to membership – and Angola now wanting to join. As I leave, we are leading global campaigns against illegal wildlife trade and in favour of 12 years of quality education for every girl. We have the flag going up in nine new missions in the Pacific and the Caribbean and Africa and more to come. And we have overtaken France to boast the biggest diplomatic network of any European country.

None of this would have been possible without the support of my Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister. Everyone who has worked with her will recognise her courage and resilience. It was my privilege to collaborate with her in promoting Global Britain, a vision for this country she set out with great clarity at Lancaster House on January 17th last year a country eager, as she said, not just to do a bold, ambitious and comprehensive free trade agreement with the EU, out of the customs union and out of the single market, but also to do new free trade deals around the world.

I thought it was the right vision then. I think so today.

But in the 18 months that have followed, it is as though a fog of self-doubt has descended. Even though our EU friends and partners liked the Lancaster House vision – it was what they were expecting from an ambitious partner, and what they understood – even though the commentators liked it, and the markets liked it (the pound soared), we never actually went to Brussels and turned it into a negotiating offer.

Instead we dithered. We burned through negotiating capital. We agreed to hand over a £40billion exit fee, with no discussion of our future economic relationship. We accepted the jurisdiction of the European Court over key aspects of the withdrawal agreement. And, worst of all, we allowed the question of the Northern Irish border, which had hitherto been assumed on all sides to be readily soluble, to become so politically charged as to dominate the debate.

No one wants a hard border. You couldn’t construct one if you tried. But there certainly can be different rules north and south of the border to reflect the fact that there are two different jurisdictions. In fact there already are.

There can be checks away from the border, and technical solutions, as the PM described at Mansion House. In fact there already are.

But when I and other colleagues proposed further technical solutions to make customs and regulatory checks remotely, they were never even properly examined, as if such solutions had become intellectually undesirable in the context of the argument. And somehow, after the December joint report, whose backstop arrangement we were all told was entirely provisional, never to be invoked, it became taboo even to discuss technical fixes.

So, Mr Speaker, after 18 months of stealthy retreat, we have come from the bright certainties of Lancaster House to the Chequers agreement.

Put them side by side.

Lancaster House said laws will be once again “made in Westminster”. Chequers says there will be “ongoing harmonisation” with a common EU rulebook.

Lancaster House said it would be wrong to “comply with EU rules and regulations without having a vote on what those rules and regulations are”. Chequers now makes us rule takers.

Lancaster House said we don’t want anything that leaves us “half-in, half-out” and that “we do not seek to hold on to bits of membership as we leave”. Chequers says that we will remain in lockstep on goods and agrifoods and much more besides,with disputes ultimately adjudicated by the European Court of Justice.

Far from making laws in Westminster, there are large sectors in which ministers will have no power to initiate, innovate or even deviate. After decades in which UK ministers have gone to Brussels and expostulated against costly EU regulation, we are now claiming that we must accept every jot and tittle of it for our own economic health – and with no say of our own, and no way of protecting our businesses and entrepreneurs from rules that may be not in their interests.

My Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor was asked to identify the biggest single opportunity from Brexit. After some thought, he said “regulatory innovation”. Well, there may be regulatory innovation post-Brexit, but it won’t be coming from the UK, or not in these areas anyway. We are volunteering for economic vassalage, not just in goods and agrifoods, but we will be forced to match EU arrangements on the environment and social affairs and much else besides. Of course we all want high standards, but it is hard to see how the Conservative Government of the 1980s could have done its vital supply side reforms with these freedoms taken away.

Indeed, the result of accepting the EU’s rule books, and of our proposal of a fantastical Heath Robinson customs arrangement, is that we have much less scope to do free trade deals – as the Chequers paper actually acknowledges, and which we should all acknowledge. Otherwise we continue to make the fatal mistake of underestimating the intelligence of the public, saying one thing to the EU about what we are really doing, and pretending another to the electorate. Given that in important ways this is BINO or Brino or Brexit in name only, I am of course unable to support it, as I said in Cabinet at Chequers, and am happy to be able now to speak out against it.

Mr Speaker, it is not too late to save Brexit. We have time in these negotiations. We have changed tack once and we can change again.

The problem is not that we failed to make the case for a Free Trade Agreement of the kind spelt out at Lancaster House. We haven’t even tried. We must try now, because we will not have another chance to get this right. It is absolute nonsense to imagine – as I fear some of my colleagues do – that we can somehow afford to make a botched Treaty now, and then break and reset the bone later on. We have seen even in these talks how the supposedly provisional becomes eternal.

We have the time, and I believe the Prime Minister has the support of Parliament – remember the enthusiasm for Lancaster House – and it was clear last night that there is no majority for going back to the customs union. With goodwill and common sense we can address concerns about the Northern Ireland border and all other borders. We have fully two and a half years to make the technical preparations – along with the preparations for a WTO outcome, which we should now accelerate. We do not need to be stampeded by anyone. Let’s explicitly aim once again for the glorious vision of Lancaster House, a strong independent self-governing Britain that is genuinely open to the world, not the miserable permanent limbo of Chequers, the democratic disaster of “ongoing harmonisation” with no way out and no say for the UK.

We need to take one decision now before all others – and that is to believe in this country and what it can do. The UK’s admirers across the world are fully expecting us to take back control, to be able to set new standards for technologies in which we excel, to behave not as rule-takers but as great independent actors on the world stage, to do free trade deals for the benefit and prosperity of the British people.

That was the vision of Brexit we fought for; that was the vision the Prime Minister rightly described last year. That is the prize. And if the Prime Minister can fix that vision once again before us then I believe she can deliver a great Brexit for Britain, with a positive and self-confident approach that will unite this party, unite this House, and unite the country as well.

Conservatives
Most Popular

Boris Johnson Resignation Speech – Full Transcript

July 7, 2022
Estimated Reading Time : Under 3 minutes

Historic speeches – Boris Johnson Resignation Speech – 7th July 2022

‘Good afternoon, everybody. Good afternoon. Thank you. Thank you. It is clearly now the will of the Parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new Prime Minister. And I have agreed with the Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench MPs, that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now and the timetable will be announced next week. And I have today appointed a Cabinet to serve as I will until a new leader is in place.

So, I want to say to the millions of people who voted for us in 2019, many of them voting conservative for the first time, thank you for that incredible mandate. The biggest Conservative majority since 1987. The biggest share of the vote since 1979. And the reason I have fought so hard in the last few days to continue to deliver that mandate in person, was not just because I wanted to do so, but because I felt it was my job, my duty, my obligation to you, to continue to do what we promised in 2019.

And of course, I’m immensely proud of the achievements of this government from getting Brexit done to settling our relations with the continent for over half a century, reclaiming the power for this country to make its own laws in parliament. Getting us all through the pandemic; delivering the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe; the fastest exit from lockdown; and in the last few months leading the West in standing up to Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.

Let me say now to the people of Ukraine that I know that we in the UK will continue to back your fight for freedom for as long as it takes.

And at the same time in this country, we’ve been pushing forward a vast programme of investment in infrastructure and skills and technology, the biggest in a century. Because if I have one insight into human beings, it is the genius and talent and enthusiasm and imagination are evenly distributed throughout the population. But opportunity is not, and that’s why we must keep levelling up, keep unleashing the potential of every part of the United Kingdom. And if we can do that in this country, we will be the most prosperous in Europe.

And in the last few days I’ve tried to persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments, when we’re delivering so much when we have such a vast mandate, and when were actually only a handful of points behind in the polls, even in mid-term, after quite a few months of pretty relentless sledging and when the economic scene is so difficult domestically and internationally. And I regret not to have been successful in those arguments and of course it’s painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself. But as we’ve seen at Westminster, the herd instinct is powerful. When the herd moves, it moves. And my friends, in politics, no-one is remotely indispensable.

And our brilliant and Darwinian system will produce another leader equally committed to taking this country forward through tough times, not just helping families to get through it, but changing and improving the way we do things. Cutting burdens on businesses and families and, yes, cutting taxes. Because that is the way to generate the growth and the income we need to pay for great public services.

And to that new leader, I say whoever he or she may be, I say, I will give you as much support as I can. And to you, the British public. I know that there will be many people who are relieved and perhaps quite a few will also be disappointed. And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But them’s the breaks.

I want to thank Carrie and our children, all the members of my family, who have had to put up with so much for so long. I want to thank the peerless British Civil Service for all the help and support that you have given our police, our emergency services and of course, our fantastic NHS, who at a critical moment helped to extend my own period in office, as well as our armed services and our agencies that are so admired around the world. And our indefatigable Conservative Party members and supporters, whose selfless campaigning makes our democracy possible. I want to thank the wonderful staff here at No. 10 and of course at Chequers and our fantastic prop force detectives, the one group, by the way, who never leak.

Above all I want to thank you the British public for the immense privilege that you have given me. And I want you to know that from now on, until the new prime minister is in place, your interests will be served and the government of the country will be carried on. Being Prime Minister is an education in itself. I’ve travelled to every part of the United Kingdom. And in addition to the beauty of our natural world, I found so many people, possessed of such boundless British originality, and so willing to tackle old problems in new ways, that I know that even if things can sometimes seem dark now, our future together is golden.

Thank you all very much. Thank you.’

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A.I.’s Original Sin

A times investigation found that tech giants altered their own rules to train their newest artificial intelligence systems..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

From “The New York Times,” I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.”

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Today, a “Times” investigation shows how as the country’s biggest technology companies race to build powerful new artificial intelligence systems, they bent and broke the rules from the start.

My colleague Cade Metz on what he uncovered.

It’s Tuesday, April 16th.

Cade, when we think about all the artificial intelligence products released over the past couple of years, including, of course, these chatbots we’ve talked a lot about on the show, we so frequently talk about their future their future capabilities, their influence on society, jobs, our lives. But you recently decided to go back in time to AI’s past, to its origins to understand the decisions that were made, basically, at the birth of this technology. So why did you decide to do that?

Because if you’re thinking about the future of these chatbots, that is defined by their past. The thing you have to realize is that these chatbots learn their skills by analyzing enormous amounts of digital data.

So what my colleagues and I wanted to do with our investigation was really focus on that effort to gather more data. We wanted to look at the type of data these companies were collecting, how they were gathering it, and how they were feeding it into their systems.

And when you all undertake this line of reporting, what do you end up finding?

We found that three major players in this race OpenAI, Google, and Meta as they were locked into this competition to develop better and better artificial intelligence, they were willing to do almost anything to get their hands on this data, including ignoring, and in some cases, violating corporate rules and wading into a legal gray area as they gathered this data.

Basically, cutting corners.

Cutting corners left and right.

OK, let’s start with OpenAI, the flashiest player of all.

The most interesting thing we’ve found, is that in late 2021, as OpenAI, the startup in San Francisco that built ChatGPT, as they were pulling together the fundamental technology that would power that chatbot, they ran out of data, essentially.

They had used just about all the respectable English language text on the internet to build this system. And just let that sink in for a bit.

I mean, I’m trying to let that sink in. They basically, like a Pac-Man on a old game, just consumed almost all the English words on the internet, which is kind of unfathomable.

Wikipedia articles by the thousands, news articles, Reddit threads, digital books by the millions. We’re talking about hundreds of billions, even trillions of words.

So by the end of 2021, OpenAI had no more English language texts that they could feed into these systems, but their ambitions are such that they wanted even more.

So here, we should remember that if you’re gathering up all the English language text on the internet, a large portion of that is going to be copyrighted.

So if you’re one of these companies gathering data at that scale, you are absolutely gathering copyrighted data, as well.

Which suggests that, from the very beginning, these companies, a company like OpenAI with ChatGPT, is starting to break, bend the rules.

Yes, they are determined to build this technology thus they are willing to venture into what is a legal gray area.

So given that, what does OpenAI do once it, as you had said, runs out of English language words to mop up and feed into this system?

So they get together, and they say, all right, so what are other options here? And they say, well, what about all the audio and video on the internet? We could transcribe all the audio and video, turn it into text, and feed that into their systems.

Interesting.

So a small team at OpenAI, which included its president and co-founder Greg Brockman, built a speech-recognition technology called Whisper, which could transcribe audio files into text with high accuracy.

And then they gathered up all sorts of audio files, from across the internet, including audio books, podcasts —

— and most importantly, YouTube videos.

Hmm, of which there’s a seemingly endless supply, right? Fair to say maybe tens of millions of videos.

According to my reporting, we’re talking about at least 1,000,000 hours of YouTube videos were scraped off of that video sharing site, fed into this speech recognition system in order to produce new text for training OpenAI’s chatbot. And YouTube’s terms of service do not allow a company like OpenAI to do this. YouTube, which is owned by Google, explicitly says you are not allowed to, in internet parlance, scrape videos en masse from across YouTube and use those videos to build a new application.

That is exactly what OpenAI did. According to my reporting, employees at the company knew that it broke YouTube terms of service, but they resolved to do it anyway.

So, Cade, this makes me want to understand what’s going on over at Google, which as we have talked about in the past on the show, is itself, thinking about and developing its own artificial intelligence model and product.

Well, as OpenAI scrapes up all these YouTube videos and starts to use them to build their chatbot, according to my reporting, some employees at Google, at the very least, are aware that this is happening.

Yes, now when we went to the company about this, a Google spokesman said it did not know that OpenAI was scraping YouTube content and said the company takes legal action over this kind of thing when there’s a clear reason to do so. But according to my reporting, at least some Google employees turned a blind eye to OpenAI’s activities because Google was also using YouTube content to train its AI.

So if they raise a stink about what OpenAI is doing, they end up shining a spotlight on themselves. And they don’t want to do that.

I guess I want to understand what Google’s relationship is to YouTube. Because of course, Google owns YouTube. So what is it allowed or not allowed to do when it comes to feeding YouTube data into Google’s AI models?

It’s an important distinction. Because Google owns YouTube, it defines what can be done with that data. And Google argues that it has a right to that data, that its terms of service allow it to use that data. However, because of that copyright issue, because the copyright to those videos belong to you and I, lawyers who I’ve spoken to say, people could take Google to court and try to determine whether or not those terms of service really allow Google to do this. There’s another legal gray area here where, although Google argues that it’s OK, others may argue it’s not.

Of course, what makes this all so interesting is, you essentially have one tech company Google, keeping another tech company OpenAI’s dirty little secret about basically stealing from YouTube because it doesn’t want people to know that it too is taking from YouTube. And so these companies are essentially enabling each other as they simultaneously seem to be bending or breaking the rules.

What this shows is that there is this belief, and it has been there for years within these companies, among their researchers, that they have a right to this data because they’re on a larger mission to build a technology that they believe will transform the world.

And if you really want to understand this attitude, you can look at our reporting from inside Meta.

And so what does Meta end up doing, according to your reporting?

Well, like Google and other companies, Meta had to scramble to build artificial intelligence that could compete with OpenAI. Mark Zuckerberg is calling engineers and executives at all hours pushing them to acquire this data that is needed to improve the chatbot.

And at one point, my colleagues and I got hold of recordings of these Meta executives and engineers discussing this problem. How they could get their hands on more data where they should try to find it? And they explored all sorts of options.

They talked about licensing books, one by one, at $10 a pop and feeding those into the model.

They even discussed acquiring the book publisher Simon & Schuster and feeding its entire library into their AI model. But ultimately, they decided all that was just too cumbersome, too time consuming, and on the recordings of these meetings, you can hear executives talk about how they were willing to run roughshod over copyright law and ignore the legal concerns and go ahead and scrape the internet and feed this stuff into their models.

They acknowledged that they might be sued over this. But they talked about how OpenAI had done this before them. That they, Meta were just following what they saw as a market precedent.

Interesting, so they go from having conversations like, should we buy a publisher that has tons of copyrighted material suggesting that they’re very conscious of the kind of legal terrain and what’s right and what’s wrong. And instead say, nah, let’s just follow the OpenAI model, that blueprint and just do what we want to do, do what we think we have a right to do, which is to kind of just gobble up all this material across the internet.

It’s a snapshot of that Silicon Valley attitude that we talked about. Because they believe they are building this transformative technology, because they are in this intensely competitive situation where money and power is at stake, they are willing to go there.

But what that means is that there is, at the birth of this technology, a kind of original sin that can’t really be erased.

It can’t be erased, and people are beginning to notice. And they are beginning to sue these companies over it. These companies have to have this copyrighted data to build their systems. It is fundamental to their creation. If a lawsuit bars them from using that copyrighted data, that could bring down this technology.

We’ll be right back.

So Cade, walk us through these lawsuits that are being filed against these AI companies based on the decisions they made early on to use technology as they did and the chances that it could result in these companies not being able to get the data they so desperately say they need.

These suits are coming from a wide range of places. They’re coming from computer programmers who are concerned that their computer programs have been fed into these systems. They’re coming from book authors who have seen their books being used. They’re coming from publishing companies. They’re coming from news corporations like, “The New York Times,” incidentally, which has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft.

News organizations that are concerned over their news articles being used to build these systems.

And here, I think it’s important to say as a matter of transparency, Cade, that your reporting is separate from that lawsuit. That lawsuit was filed by the business side of “The New York Times” by people who are not involved in your reporting or in this “Daily” episode, just to get that out of the way.

I’m assuming that you have spoken to many lawyers about this, and I wonder if there’s some insight that you can shed on the basic legal terrain? I mean, do the companies seem to have a strong case that they have a right to this information, or do companies like the “Times,” who are suing them, seem to have a pretty strong case that, no, that decision violates their copyrighted materials.

Like so many legal questions, this is incredibly complicated. It comes down to what’s called fair use, which is a part of copyright law that determines whether companies can use copyrighted data to build new things. And there are many factors that go into this. There are good arguments on the OpenAI side. There are good arguments on “The New York Times” side.

Copyright law says that can’t take my work and reproduce it and sell it to someone. That’s not allowed. But what’s called fair use does allow companies and individuals to use copyrighted works in part. They can take snippets of it. They can take the copyrighted works and transform it into something new. That is what OpenAI and others are arguing they’re doing.

But there are other things to consider. Does that transformative work compete with the individuals and companies that supplied the data that owned the copyrights?

And here, the suit between “The New York Times” company and OpenAI is illustrative. If “The New York Times” creates articles that are then used to build a chatbot, does that chatbot end up competing with “The New York Times?” Do people end up going to that chatbot for their information, rather than going to the “Times” website and actually reading the article? That is one of the questions that will end up deciding this case and cases like it.

So what would it mean for these AI companies for some, or even all of these lawsuits to succeed?

Well, if these tech companies are required to license the copyrighted data that goes into their systems, if they’re required to pay for it, that becomes a problem for these companies. We’re talking about digital data the size of the entire internet.

Licensing all that copyrighted data is not necessarily feasible. We quote the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz in our story where one of their lawyers says that it does not work for these companies to license that data. It’s too expensive. It’s on too large a scale.

Hmm, it would essentially make this technology economically impractical.

Exactly, so a jury or a judge or a law ruling against OpenAI, could fundamentally change the way this technology is built. The extreme case is these companies are no longer allowed to use copyrighted material in building these chatbots. And that means they have to start from scratch. They have to rebuild everything they’ve built. So this is something that, not only imperils what they have today, it imperils what they want to build in the future.

And conversely, what happens if the courts rule in favor of these companies and say, you know what, this is fair use. You were fine to have scraped this material and to keep borrowing this material into the future free of charge?

Well, one significant roadblock drops for these companies. And they can continue to gather up all that extra data, including images and sounds and videos and build increasingly powerful systems. But the thing is, even if they can access as much copyrighted material as they want, these companies may still run into a problem.

Pretty soon they’re going to run out of digital data on the internet.

That human-created data they rely on is going to dry up. They’re using up this data faster than humans create it. One research organization estimates that by 2026, these companies will run out of viable data on the internet.

Wow. Well, in that case, what would these tech companies do? I mean, where are they going to go if they’ve already scraped YouTube, if they’ve already scraped podcasts, if they’ve already gobbled up the internet and that altogether is not sufficient?

What many people inside these companies will tell you, including Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, they’ll tell you that what they will turn to is what’s called synthetic data.

And what is that?

That Is data generated by an AI model that is then used to build a better AI model. It’s AI helping to build better AI. That is the vision, ultimately, they have for the future that they won’t need all this human generated text. They’ll just have the AI build the text that will feed future versions of AI.

So they will feed the AI systems the material that the AI systems themselves create. But is that really a workable solid plan? Is that considered high-quality data? Is that good enough?

If you do this on a large scale, you quickly run into problems. As we all know, as we’ve discussed on this podcast, these systems make mistakes. They hallucinate . They make stuff up. They show biases that they’ve learned from internet data. And if you start using the data generated by the AI to build new AI, those mistakes start to reinforce themselves.

The systems start to get trapped in these cul-de-sacs where they end up not getting better but getting worse.

What you’re really saying is, these AI machines need the unique perfection of the human creative mind.

Well, as it stands today, that is absolutely the case. But these companies have grand visions for where this will go. And they feel, and they’re already starting to experiment with this, that if you have an AI system that is sufficiently powerful, if you make a copy of it, if you have two of these AI models, one can produce new data, and the other one can judge that data.

It can curate that data as a human would. It can provide the human judgment, So. To speak. So as one model produces the data, the other one can judge it, discard the bad data, and keep the good data. And that’s how they ultimately see these systems creating viable synthetic data. But that has not happened yet, and it’s unclear whether it will work.

It feels like the real lesson of your investigation is that if you have to allegedly steal data to feed your AI model and make it economically feasible, then maybe you have a pretty broken model. And that if you need to create fake data, as a result, which as you just said, kind of undermines AI’s goal of mimicking human thinking and language, then maybe you really have a broken model.

And so that makes me wonder if the folks you talk to, the companies that we’re focused on here, ever ask themselves the question, could we do this differently? Could we create an AI model that just needs a lot less data?

They have thought about other models for decades. The thing to realize here, is that is much easier said than done. We’re talking about creating systems that can mimic the human brain. That is an incredibly ambitious task. And after struggling with that for decades, these companies have finally stumbled on something that they feel works that is a path to that incredibly ambitious goal.

And they’re going to continue to push in that direction. Yes, they’re exploring other options, but those other options aren’t working.

What works is more data and more data and more data. And because they see a path there, they’re going to continue down that path. And if there are roadblocks there, and they think they can knock them down, they’re going to knock them down.

But what if the tech companies never get enough or make enough data to get where they think they want to go, even as they’re knocking down walls along the way? That does seem like a real possibility.

If these companies can’t get their hands on more data, then these technologies, as they’re built today, stop improving.

We will see their limitations. We will see how difficult it really is to build a system that can match, let alone surpass the human brain.

These companies will be forced to look for other options, technically. And we will see the limitations of these grandiose visions that they have for the future of artificial intelligence.

OK, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Glad to be here.

Here’s what else you need to know today. Israeli leaders spent Monday debating whether and how to retaliate against Iran’s missile and drone attack over the weekend. Herzi Halevi, Israel’s Military Chief of Staff, declared that the attack will be responded to.

In Washington, a spokesman for the US State Department, Matthew Miller reiterated American calls for restraint —

^MATTHEW MILLER^ Of course, we continue to make clear to everyone that we talked to that we want to see de-escalation that we don’t want to see a wider regional war. That’s something that’s been —

— but emphasized that a final call about retaliation was up to Israel. ^MATTHEW MILLER^ Israel is a sovereign country. They have to make their own decisions about how best to defend themselves. What we always try to do —

And the first criminal trial of a former US President officially got underway on Monday in a Manhattan courtroom. Donald Trump, on trial for allegedly falsifying documents to cover up a sex scandal involving a porn star, watched as jury selection began.

The initial pool of 96 jurors quickly dwindled. More than half of them were dismissed after indicating that they did not believe that they could be impartial. The day ended without a single juror being chosen.

Today’s episode was produced by Stella Tan, Michael Simon Johnson, Muge Zaidi, and Rikki Novetsky. It was edited by Marc Georges and Liz O. Baylen, contains original music by Diane Wong, Dan Powell, and Pat McCusker, and was engineered by Chris Wood. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Michael Barbaro. See you tomorrow.

April 17, 2024 • 24:52 Are ‘Forever Chemicals’ a Forever Problem?
April 16, 2024 • 29:29 A.I.’s Original Sin
April 15, 2024 • 24:07 Iran’s Unprecedented Attack on Israel
April 14, 2024 • 46:17 The Sunday Read: ‘What I Saw Working at The National Enquirer During Donald Trump’s Rise’
April 12, 2024 • 34:23 How One Family Lost $900,000 in a Timeshare Scam
April 11, 2024 • 28:39 The Staggering Success of Trump’s Trial Delay Tactics
April 10, 2024 • 22:49 Trump’s Abortion Dilemma
April 9, 2024 • 30:48 How Tesla Planted the Seeds for Its Own Potential Downfall
April 8, 2024 • 30:28 The Eclipse Chaser
April 7, 2024 The Sunday Read: ‘What Deathbed Visions Teach Us About Living’
April 5, 2024 • 29:11 An Engineering Experiment to Cool the Earth
April 4, 2024 • 32:37 Israel’s Deadly Airstrike on the World Central Kitchen

Hosted by Michael Barbaro

Featuring Cade Metz

Produced by Stella Tan , Michael Simon Johnson , Mooj Zadie and Rikki Novetsky

Edited by Marc Georges and Liz O. Baylen

Original music by Diane Wong , Dan Powell and Pat McCusker

Engineered by Chris Wood

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music

A Times investigation shows how the country’s biggest technology companies, as they raced to build powerful new artificial intelligence systems, bent and broke the rules from the start.

Cade Metz, a technology reporter for The Times, explains what he uncovered.

On today’s episode

Cade Metz , a technology reporter for The New York Times.

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How tech giants cut corners to harvest data for A.I.

What to know about tech companies using A.I. to teach their own A.I.

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We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.

The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson and Nina Lassam.

Cade Metz writes about artificial intelligence, driverless cars, robotics, virtual reality and other emerging areas of technology. More about Cade Metz

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Johnson's leadership is under threat in the House over foreign aid bills

Barbara Sprunt

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., seen here at the U.S. Capitol in October 2023, said he called on House Speaker Mike Johnson to resign. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., seen here at the U.S. Capitol in October 2023, said he called on House Speaker Mike Johnson to resign.

A second Republican member is supporting an effort to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., says he is co-sponsoring a resolution by Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, as frustration grows among blocs of conservative members at Johnson's proposed foreign aid package .

"We're steering everything toward what [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer wants," Massie said of his complaints with Johnson. "I mean, if the country likes Chuck Schumer, then they should like what Speaker Johnson's accomplished in the House."

The House plans to hold separate votes on aid for Israel and Ukraine after delays

The Kentucky Republican pointed to three areas where he feels Johnson has let his conference down: the latest spending package , the House's renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that allows for warrantless surveillance of foreign nationals inside the U.S., and aid to Ukraine.

Johnson announced Monday plans to move forward on four separate bills to address foreign aid , including to Israel and Ukraine.

Schumer and the White House haven't ruled out backing Johnson's plan.

Massie said he asked Johnson to resign during a closed-door meeting with GOP House members Tuesday morning.

"He said he would not," Massie told reporters after the meeting.

I just told Mike Johnson in conference that I’m cosponsoring the Motion to Vacate that was introduced by @RepMTG . He should pre-announce his resignation (as Boehner did), so we can pick a new Speaker without ever being without a GOP Speaker. — Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) April 16, 2024

Massie argued Johnson should pre-announce his resignation, like former GOP Speaker John Boehner, so that members could coalesce around a replacement and avoid the drawn-out process they faced last fall when they ultimately elected Johnson as speaker.

"If somebody calls in a motion to vacate on the floor, and it succeeds, which it will, now you have no speaker," Massie said. "And then you have a temporary speaker and it's a hot mess."

His comments come almost a month after Greene filed a motion to vacate resolution over disputes with the speaker on how he handled a $1.2 trillion appropriations package . That resolution is not privileged, meaning it's unclear when it might be brought to the floor for a vote.

Massie said if it is called for a vote, "there will be a lot of people who vote for it."

South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said he respects Massie but disagrees with his support of the motion to vacate.

"The last thing this country needs is to throw a speaker out, even though I disagree with what he's done," Norman said.

Consider This from NPR

Iran's attack on israel is a major escalation. what comes next for the region.

After the meeting, Johnson told reporters that "steady leadership" is needed and the motion-to-vacate threat weakens the GOP conference.

"It is, in my view, an absurd notion that someone would bring a vacate motion when we are simply here trying to do our jobs. It is not helpful to the cause," Johnson said. "We have to have a united front and we have to have our members work together."

Johnson has a razor-thin majority, which goes down to one seat on Friday when Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher's retirement becomes effective. If Greene were to call for a vote, Johnson would likely need support from Democrats to keep the gavel.

Florida Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz has already said he would support Johnson in a motion to vacate vote.

"Massie wants the world to burn, I won't stand by and watch. I have a bucket of water," he posted on X .

Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar told reporters Tuesday that Democrats want to see aid move forward to Ukraine and Israel.

"That's what we're focused on right now. We can't control the theatrics of Marjorie Taylor Greene and the House Republican conference," he said. "We don't like the chaos and the dysfunction. We've been down this road before."

NPR's Deirdre Walsh and Lexie Schapitl contributed to this report.

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'Blue Sky City': Calgary unveils new brand

Ranchers 'vindicated' but concerned after court forces government to share coal policy documents

GAS PRICES | Ottawa gas prices expected to increase 14 cents a litre on Thursday