'Come with us and we'll get Brexit done': Boris Johnson launches Tory campaign in Birmingham
Boris Johnson has urged voters to "come with us'' as he launched the Conservative Party election campaign at the NEC.
The Prime Minister said the country was "aching to move on'' from Brexit and urged the public to back the Tories and pull the country "out of the rut'' of the last three years.
Flanked by Cabinet members, he spoke to cheers from about 800 party members and activists at the NEC on Wednesday night, but was greeted by protestors when he arrived:
In his speech, Mr Johnson said he was proud of the EU Withdrawal Agreement, "the deal they said we couldn't do'', and likened its critics to "candle-sellers'' in the age of electricity.
He added: "I've heard some people in the last few days trying to attack our deal.
"I am reminded of candle-sellers at the dawn of the age of the electric light bulb, or sellers of typewriters on beholding their first laptop computer.
"They have a terrible sense they're about to lose their market.''
He said the deal "delivered'' for all parts of the UK.
Mr Johnson said if elected, the Conservatives would "take back control'' of the UK's laws and borders, with an Australian-based points system, and invest in police, hospitals and education.
But turning again to the EU divorce agreement, he said: "This deal is ready to go.''
To laughter, he added: "It's there, you just whack it in the microwave - it's there, it's ready to go, prick the lid, put him in.
"Then we can put this deal through Parliament and get on with all the fantastic projects in which this Government is engaged.''
He added the Conservatives were "more trusted'' with the economy, "because people can see that we understand how to pay for that whole society''.
Attacking the Labour Party's economic credentials, he paraphrased Margaret Thatcher, saying "the Labour Party always runs out of other's people's money''.
He criticised a "deranged plan'' to spend "ÂŁ196 billion'' on a programme of re-nationalisation, claiming the proposals would be "ruinous'' for the economy.
But turning back to Brexit, Mr Johnson said: "There is a key difference that we all face at this election.
"Come with us and we will get Brexit done.
"This guy (Jeremy Corbyn) wants nothing more than dither and delay.
"He wants a referendum on Scotland because he's told the Scottish nationalists that he's happy to break up the union if they sustain him in power and of course he wants another referendum on the EU.
"Unbelievable."
Afterwards, Tory activists were full of praise for Mr Johnson:
The speech came just hours after Jeremy Corbyn had set out Labour's campaign promises in Telford. You can catch up on our coverage of that here.