Boris Johnson became British prime minister on Wednesday and immediately declared he will get the country ready for the “remote” prospect of a no-deal Brexit if it’s the only way to leave the European Union on time.

Shortly after visiting Buckingham Palace, where Queen Elizabeth II formally appointed him the U.K.’s new leader, Johnson’s convoy swept through the gates of Downing Street past a small crowd of pro-EU and pro-Brexit protesters, who chanted loudly as he delivered his first address outside the door to Number 10.

Johnson insisted the British economy would be ready for a no-deal Brexit if necessary. “The ports will be ready, the banks will be ready, the factories will be ready, business will be ready,” he said. “The British people have had enough of waiting. The time has come to act.”

Johnson faces an enormous challenge to deliver on that promise, hemmed in by the clash between his own pledge to renegotiate the deal secured by Theresa May and the EU’s stance that the agreement is non-negotiable. His determination to leave without a deal if the EU won’t co-operate puts him on course to collide with members of Parliament, who have voted repeatedly against such an outcome.

Johnson insisted he could get a better deal from the EU. “I am convinced we can do a deal without checks at the Irish border because we refuse under any circumstances to have such checks,” he said. “It is of course vital at the same time that we prepare for the remote possibility that Brussels refuses any further to negotiate and we are forced to come out with no deal.”

The new prime minister was keen to show his administration will have priorities beyond the U.K.’s European divorce. He announced promises to increase schools funding and “fix the crisis in social care,” while pledging to take “personal responsibility for the change I want to see.”

Johnson also made various pro-enterprise promises. It was an overture to corporate Britain designed to show he is on their side, despite his widely-reported comment to an EU ambassador: “F*** business.”

On Wednesday, he pledged lower taxes on capital investment and research, new road and rail infrastructure, plus full-fiber broadband. He said he wanted to free the U.K.’s bio-science sector from anti-genetic modification rules, and for the U.K. to develop its own satellite systems.