Boris Johnson: I will not be the next Tory leader

Boris Johnson has ruled himself out of the Tory leadership race. Here is his full speech: Last week the people of this country voted to take a new path and a new direction for Britain in a decision that I passionately support. And it is vital now to see this moment for what it is. This is not a time to quail, it is not a crisis, nor should we see it as an excuse for wobbling or self doubt. But as a moment for hope and ambition for Britain. A time not to fight against the tide of history but to take that tide at the flood and sail on to fortune. This is our chance. This is our chance to build a Britain not just with a dynamic free market economy but an economy where everyone benefits from that success. Because as someone who has campaigned across the country in the last few months and spoken to thousands of people, I can tell you there are too many who have not seen their wages rise in years and in many cases seen them fall and who cannot understand how it is that the pay packets of the FTSE 100 chief executives are now 150 times the average pay of the workforce in their companies when it was perhaps 50 times 20 years ago, 25 times in 1980.