'Stop fearing freedom!' Boris Johnson issues Brexit rallying cry as referendum anniversary approaches

Boris Johnson has urged Britain to "stop fearing the freedoms won through Brexit" as he marked the 10th anniversary of the historic referendum vote.

In a video released ahead of the milestone, the former Prime Minister said the UK had yet to fully seize the opportunities created by leaving the European Union and insisted he was "more passionate than ever" that voters made the right decision in 2016.

The intervention comes a decade after 17.4 million people voted for Britain to leave the EU in what remains the largest democratic mandate in British history.

"Ten years ago, the people of this country voted to leave the EU in the biggest expression of popular will in our history," Mr Johnson said.

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"And of course, I believe more passionately than ever that we were right."

Mr Johnson used the anniversary message to mount a robust defence of Brexit while dismissing calls from some campaigners and politicians for Britain to seek closer ties with Brussels or eventually rejoin the bloc.

Addressing those who argue the UK should reverse course, the former Conservative leader questioned whether voters would be willing to surrender powers and financial contributions in exchange for renewed membership.

"Do you really want to give up about £15billion a year to Brussels when we're struggling to spend enough on defence?" he said.

"Do you want to give up the legal freedom to decide who should come into this country and from where, and to hand that power back to Brussels?"

Mr Johnson also claimed that rejoining the EU would require Britain to abandon sterling in favour of the euro.

"Do you want to scrap the pound in favour of the euro, because that is the price of joining the EU?" he asked.

The former Prime Minister argued that many of the challenges facing Britain today could not be solved through closer integration with Europe.

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"Above all, do you want to spend ten more miserable years arguing about it when none of the major problems of this country – high tax, rampant welfarism, excessive regulation, low skills, poor infrastructure, hopeless planning – none of them can be fixed by going back into the EU," he said.

"And most of them will be made worse."

Mr Johnson maintained that Brexit had already delivered tangible benefits, allowing Britain to pursue policies that would have been more difficult inside the bloc.

"Brexit has given us the ability to do things differently and better," he said.

He pointed to reforms in areas including gene editing, artificial intelligence, animal welfare rules and VAT rates, while also highlighting the removal of tariffs on imported goods.

Mr Johnson said Britain had already begun "getting rid of thousands of pointless tariffs" that had increased consumer costs, including tariffs on products "we don't even grow in this country".

The former Prime Minister also linked Brexit to Britain's response to major international and domestic challenges over the past decade.

"It's precisely because we've been able to diverge that we had a stronger policy on Ukraine," he said.

"We had the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe and then the fastest economic rebound from Covid. The fastest exit from lockdown, nine months ahead of most European countries."

However, Mr Johnson argued that Brexit's most significant achievement was restoring democratic accountability by ensuring decisions affecting Britain are made by elected politicians answerable to voters.

"Taking back control restored the right of the people of this country to elect and kick out of office those that take decisions and make laws in our names," he said.

Concluding his message, Mr Johnson described that principle as the enduring legacy of the Brexit vote and urged politicians to embrace the opportunities it created.

"That freedom to make our own laws is beyond price," he said."We need to stop fearing that freedom and make use of it and move on together."

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