Boris: Brexit will expand our horizons
BRITAIN has a “massive opportunity to expand our horizons” now the country has left the EU, Boris Johnson said.
In his first TV interview since the end of the Brexit transition period on New Year’s Eve, the urged businesses to “think globally and think big” about the prospects for trade.
The Prime Minister also insisted “substantial sums of money” are coming back to the UK now it is no longer contributing to the Brussels budget.
And he insisted he plans to stay in his job after delivering his top priority of concluding Brexit.
Mr Johnson, quizzed on BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show yesterday, said: “We have a massive opportunity to expand our horizons and to think globally and to think big.
“We’ve got control over our borders, a points- based immigration system has already been established.
“And then when it comes to areas in parts of the country that feel that they’ve been left behind, one of the things that you can do for instance, to say nothing more of the regulatory changes you can make, one of the things you can do, is have free ports.
“You can use tax systems and subsidies in order to drive investment.” He accused Marr of being pessimistic about prospects for the year ahead.
“I think you should break out of your characteristic gloom, if I may say so Andrew,” he said.
“Things are very tough, we’re going through a very tough period as a country,” Referring to the new British Covid vaccine, he said: “I really think people should focus on the amazing fact this country has created a room-temperature vaccine which can be used around the world.
“And we now have freedoms that we haven’t had for 50 years.”
Home Secretary Priti Patel yesterday vowed to give the police and security agencies “even tougher powers to keep this country safe”.
She said the the Brexit agreement “gives our police and security services the tools and partnerships to help keep the public safe. She added: “We will refuse to accept insecure national identity cards and we will be able to crack down on illegal imports of goods through the introduction of pre- arrival data on goods being imported from the EU. We will also crack down on illegal immigration and reform the broken asylum system. Free movement has ended and people who want to live in the UK will now have to meet the requirements of our new points- based system.”