British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britain had to boost its preparations for leaving the European Union without an exit agreement, in his first speech to parliament Thursday since he took office. While the country was more prepared than some thought, it was not as ready as it should be, he added.

After installing a new cabinet following a radical overhaul, Johnson doubled down on his promise to lead Britain out of the EU by October 31 at any cost. In case of a no-deal exit, he also threatened to withhold the 39 billion British pounds divorce bill that Britain has previously said it owes the EU and instead spend the money for preparations for leaving with no agreement. 

"In the 98 days that remain to us we must turbo-charge our preparations to make sure that there is as little disruption as possible to our national life," Johnson told a raucous session of parliament in which he was repeatedly shouted down by opposing MPs, "I believe that is possible with the kind of national effort that the British people have made before and will make again. In these circumstances we would, of course, also have available the 39 billion pounds in the Withdrawal Agreement to help deal with any consequences".

He called the current Brexit deal his predecessor Theresa May reached with the 27 EU leaders "unacceptable" and set preparations for leaving the bloc without an agreement as a "top priority" for the government. In a pugnacious debut in parliament, the former London mayor urged EU leaders to rethink their opposition to renegotiating the deal. 

"Its terms are unacceptable to this parliament and to this country," Johnson said a day after taking over Britain's top job from Theresa May and purging more than half the ministers in May's team.

"Today is the first day of a new approach, which will end with our exit from the EU on 31 October," he said. 

Irish backstop must be abolished for a Brexit deal

Johnson also told parliament the Irish backstop, an insurance policy designed to prevent the return of a hard border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, must be struck out of the Brexit divorce agreement if there was to be an orderly exit with a deal.

"It must be clearly understood that the way to the deal goes by way of the abolition of the backstop," Johnson said.

The Irish backstop is contained in a protocol of the Withdrawal Agreement which May agreed to in November.

It is the most contentious part of the deal for British lawmakers who fear it will slice Northern Ireland off from the rest of the United Kingdom. Johnson's government does not have a majority in parliament so rules with the help of 10 Northern Irish lawmakers from the Democratic Unionist Party, who vehemently oppose the backstop.

"Our mission is to deliver Brexit on October 31 for the purpose of uniting and re-energizing our great United Kingdom and making this country the greatest place on earth," Johnson told UK lawmakers.

Johnson's bet is that the threat of a no-deal Brexit will persuade the EU's biggest powers - Germany and France - to agree to revise the divorce deal that May agreed last November but failed to get ratified.

The EU has every reason to compromise on Brexit

The EU has so far repeatedly refused to countenance rewriting the Withdrawal Agreement but has said it could change the "Political Declaration" on future ties that is part of the divorce deal.

If EU leaders refuse to play ball with Johnson and he moves towards a no-deal Brexit, some British lawmakers have threatened to thwart what they cast as a disastrous leap into economic chaos.

In those circumstances, Johnson could call an election in a bid to override lawmakers.

Johnson began his time in office by decisively sweeping away May's cabinet in one of the biggest culls of senior government jobs in recent British history.

Earlier on Thursday the prime minister held his first full meeting of the cabinet, in which Brexiteers now dominate the senior posts.

Johnson told the parliament he believed the EU would have every reason to want to compromise with Britain over its departure from the bloc.

Johnson has said he will try to wrest changes from the EU over the previous deal negotiated by May to make it more palatable to parliament, otherwise Britain will leave without a deal.  

"Why begin by assuming that our EU friends will not wish to compromise? I think they have every reason to want to compromise, and that is what we will seek," Johnson told parliament.

'Not in the real world'

Johnson's solution for the frontier revolves around proposals that have been rejected as either unworkable or insufficient by both EU and Irish leaders. 

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, whose heavily trade-dependent nation stands to lose most from a messy EU-UK split, bluntly told Johnson on Wednesday that he needed to compromise. He said Johnson's pledge of a new Brexit deal was "not in the real world".

EU spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said in Brussels on Thursday that the bloc's position "remains unchanged". "The deal we have achieved is the best deal possible," Andreeva said.

Diplomatic dilemmas

Johnson will have the backing of his governing Conservative party but not the nation in his first days in office. 

The UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Thursday that Labour Party will oppose any Brexit deal the new prime minister makes if it does not protect jobs, workers rights and the environment. And if Johnson puts such a deal to a second referendum, Corbyn added his party will campaign to stay in the EU. 

(With input from agencies)