EU referendum: Time to vote for real change, says Boris Johnson

The forthcoming referendum on the UK's membership of the EU is a "once-in-a-lifetime chance to vote for real change", Boris Johnson has said.

The London Mayor confirmed earlier, in a speech outside his house, that he would be campaigning for an EU exit.

In a 2,000-word column for The Daily Telegraph, the Conservative MP said staying inside the union would lead to "an erosion of democracy".

The prime minister has said leaving the EU would be a "leap in the dark".

In his weekly column for the newspaper Mr Johnson commended David Cameron for doing "his very best" in securing a deal on renegotiated EU membership for the UK.

But he said that the EU "only really listen to a population when it says 'no'".

"This is a moment to be brave, to reach out - not to hug the skirts of Nurse in Brussels, and refer all decisions to someone else," he wrote.

"This is the only opportunity we will ever have to show that we care about self-rule.

"A vote to Remain will be taken in Brussels as a green light for more federalism, and for the erosion of democracy."

Mr Johnson, who is the MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, is believed to have informed Mr Cameron of his decision to campaign for the UK to leave the union by text message shortly before making it public at 17:00 GMT.