BORIS: I’LL UNLEASH BRITISH SPIRIT
In bravura speech, PM vows to ‘level up’ country with ‘radical Conservatism’
BORIS Johnson pledged to unleash Britain’s ‘unique spirit’ yesterday as he vowed to rebuild and ‘level up’ with his new brand of ‘radical Conservatism’.
In a relentlessly optimistic address to the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, the Prime Minister promised his ‘reforming government’ would spread opportunity across the country.
He said that with Covid receding, his ‘mission’ would centre on delivering on his ‘levelling-up’ agenda – describing it as the greatest project any government could embark on.
The barnstorming speech, which was peppered with jokes and merciless attacks on Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour, received a rapturous welcome from Tory delegates.
But it was light on new policy and did not directly address the supply crisis threatening the economy or mounting fears over the soaring cost of living.
Mr Johnson brushed aside clashes with business leaders in recent days,
‘Labour don’t like levelling up’
saying industry had to invest in its workforce rather than relying on cheap labour from abroad.
He said Britain’s ‘unique spirit’ had produced everything from the NHS to England’s young football team and the ‘indomitable’ teenage tennis star Emma Raducanu.
In a breathless address, the Prime Minister also:
Pledged to spend millions on transport upgrades between Scotland and the rest of the UK, such as the A75 and the A1;
Mocked SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford’s claims of being a ‘humble crofter’;
Promised a £3,000 ‘levelling-up premium’ for maths and science teachers who relocate to tough schools;
Hailed the AUKUS security pact as an example of Britain’s ability to forge new diplomatic links after Brexit;
Pledged to make the UK ‘less dependent on hydrocarbons from abroad’ by investing in new wind and nuclear power;
Said Brexit would allow the UK to become a ‘science superpower’ with light touch regulation of emerging areas such as gene-editing and artificial intelligence;
Vowed to ‘break the business model’ of traffickers smuggling migrants across the Channel.
Mr Johnson’s 45-minute speech stood in stark contrast to the more serious 90-minute address delivered by Sir Keir Starmer at last week’s Labour conference.
The PM repeatedly hammered the Labour leader for his gloomy approach to Britain’s problems, contrasting his ‘radical and optimistic Conservatism’ with Sir Keir’s ‘tired old Labour’.
He said there was ‘a huge philosophical difference between us and Labour because in their souls they don’t like levelling up, they like levelling down’. He accused Sir Keir of ‘flapping with all the conviction of a damp tea towel’ – and said Britain would still be in lockdown if the Government had listened to Labour’s cautious advice.
Mr Johnson did not directly mention the fuel crisis, which has been the backdrop to this week’s conference. He also failed to mention the £20-a-week cut in Universal Credit which kicked in yesterday for almost six million people.
He acknowledged that Britain was facing ‘stresses and strains’ as
it emerged from the pandemic, but said they were ‘mainly a function of growth and economic revival’.
Cabinet ministers have spoken this week of their unease over the PM’s decision to break his manifesto pledge on tax by increasing national insurance by 1.25 percentage points to pay for health and social care reform. But Mr Johnson said even Margaret Thatcher would have backed the £12billion tax rise given the huge cost of dealing with the pandemic.
The PM said the former leader ‘would not have ignored the meteorite that has just crashed through the public finances’.