Boris Johnson says delay means defeat on Brexit

Boris Johnson, the leading candidate to be Britain's next prime minister, laid out his pitch to win the leadership race in the ruling Conservative Party on Wednesday. Following are comments by Johnson at the launch of his campaign.

ON DELAYING BREXIT:

"We will simply not get a result if we give the impression that we want to go on kicking the can down the road and yet more delay...The delay means defeat, a delay means ruin, kick the can again and we kick the bucket."

"With every week and month that goes by in which we fail to deliver on our promise, I'm afraid we will further alienate not just our natural supporters, driving them into the arms of insurgent parties, but anyone who believes that politicians should deliver on their promises."

ON NO-DEAL BREXIT:

"Let me be clear: I am not aiming for a no-deal outcome. I don't think that we will end up with any such thing, but it is only responsible to prepare vigorously and seriously for no-deal. Indeed it is astonishing that anyone could suggest dispensing with that vital tool in the negotiation." "The best way to avoid a disorderly Brexit is to make the preparations now that will enable us to leave in a managed way if we have to. But above all if we make the preparations now we will carry the conviction with our friends and partners that we are able to make such an exit if we really have to, if we are dared, if we are moved, if we have to go down that route, which would, of course, be a last resort, not something that anybody desires, as our last option."

ON MOOD IN BRITAIN:

"It is almost as if the commercial dynamism of the British people is insulating them from the crisis in our politics and yet we cannot ignore the morass of Westminster."

"Around the country, there is a feeling of disillusion and even despair at our ability to get things done. The longer it goes on, the worse the risk that there will be serious contamination and a real loss of confidence."

ON WHETHER HE EVER BROKE THE LAW:

"Have I ever done anything illegal?... I cannot swear that I've always observed a top speed in this country of 70 miles an hour."

ON THE UNION OF THE UNITED KINGDOM:

"In everything that we do we will seek to strengthen the union of our four nations. That invincible quartet. The awesome foursome that makes up the UK. The world's soft power, superpower. I have seen across the world in our armed forces, in our shared diplomacy, in our shared cultural impact, how we are so much more than the sum of our parts."