This article is more than 11 months old

This article is more than 11 months old

Boris Johnson has insisted Britain is ready for a no-deal Brexit as he detailed his final offer to the EU27, and laid down the battle lines for a general election, in a rousing speech to his party’s conference in Manchester.

Johnson attacked parliament for seeking to block Brexit, repeatedly praised the NHS and warned the EU27 that he was determined to take Britain out of the EU on 31 October.

Giving his first speech to the Conservative party faithful as prime minister, Johnson confirmed the outline of his Brexit plan, key elements of which had been leaked overnight.

And despite the Benn act, which is aimed at forcing him to request a Brexit delay if he cannot secure a deal, he insisted the only alternative was a no-deal Brexit on 31 October.

“That is not an outcome we want, it is not an outcome we seek at all – but let me tell you, my friends, it is an outcome for which we are ready.”

He then asked the packed hall in Manchester: “Are we ready for it?” and the audience shouted back: “Yes, we are.”

The prime minister said he would offer to keep Northern Ireland aligned with EU rules initially, and then give the Northern Ireland executive and assembly a veto over what happened next.

“We will under no circumstances have checks at or near the border in Northern Ireland. We will respect the peace process and the Good Friday agreement.

“And by a process of renewable democratic consent by the executive and assembly of Northern Ireland we will go further and protect the existing regulatory arrangements for farmers and other businesses on both sides of the border,” he said.

But he confirmed he would insist on Northern Ireland leaving the customs union immediately, along with the rest of the UK – necessitating some customs checks, though he insisted these would not be at the border.

He suggested the proposal represented a compromise from the government – and urged the EU27 to respond in kind.

“I hope very much that our friends understand that and compromise in their turn. Because if we fail to get an agreement because of what is essentially a technical discussion of the exact nature of future customs checks, when that technology is improving the whole time, then let us be in no doubt that the alternative is no deal,” he said.

Johnson made the Brexit offer the centrepiece of his speech – but he also laid the groundwork for a “people v parliament” general election, blaming MPs for trying to stop Brexit.

Johnson launched a series of attacks on parliament, saying, it “refuses to deliver Brexit, refuses to do anything constructive and refuses to have an election”.

He added: “If parliament were a laptop, then the screen would be showing the pizza wheel of doom. If parliament were a school, Ofsted would be shutting it down. If parliament were a reality TV show, the whole lot of us would have been voted out of the jungle by now.”

Brexit tactics: what is the strategy behind Boris Johnson's plan? Read more

And he listed the domestic policies on which the Conservatives would fight the forthcoming general election, including investment in hospitals and schools, a crackdown on crime and an increase in the national living wage.

“I have seen so many things that give cause for hope. Hospitals that are finally getting the investment to match the devotion of the staff. Schools where standards of reading are rising through the use of synthetic phonics. Police colleges where idealistic young men and women are enrolling in large numbers to fight crime across the country,” he said.

And Johnson lashed out at Labour, calling it a party of “fratricidal antisemitic Marxists”, and highlighting radical policies including the four-day week and the abolition of private schools.

Despite having won the leadership with the help of the Eurosceptic European Research Group (ERG), Johnson insisted the Conservatives were not an anti-European party and the UK was not an anti-European country.

“We love Europe. We are European,” he said.