Boris goes in for the kill: Johnson invokes Churchill in call for UK to 'be brave' and take 'once in a lifetime chance' to leave EU after PM tried to buy him off with either Home or Foreign Secretary job

Mayor of London Boris Johnson made his long-awaited announcement amid chaotic scenes (above, yesterday) outside his house in Islington, North London - just nine minutes after texting Prime Minister David Cameron (inset, yesterday on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show) to confirm his decision. Last night, he invoked the glories of the British Empire and the leadership of Winston Churchill to say the country which gave the world parliamentary democracy should not subject itself to 'legal colonisation' from the EU. In a newspaper column, he said it was a moment to 'be brave' and take a 'once in a lifetime chance' to end the 'erosion of democracy'. He wrote: 'This is a once in a lifetime chance to vote for real change in Britain's relations with Europe. This is the only opportunity we will ever have to show that we care about self-rule.'

Daily Mail | 21 February 2016