Johnson to meet devolved leaders on Covid

PRIME Minister Boris Johnson will host a meeting with the leaders of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland today.

The aim is to discuss how they can work together to help all parts of the United Kingdom recover from the Covid pandemic and build back better across the whole country.

The Prime Minister wrote to Mark Drakeford, Nicola Sturgeon and Arlene Foster after the elections in Scotland and Wales, asking them to join a meeting to look at the challenges facing Covid recovery.

The meeting was due to be held last week, but was delayed after the Welsh and Scottish Governments said they wanted a detailed agenda and agreement on what outcomes they were hoping to achieve.

The letter said they wanted a “meaningful discussion with substantive outcomes, and not just a PR exercise”.

They asked for a detailed agenda and for officials to work together to “allow for a much more meaningful exercise”.

The meeting will take place this afternoon.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Michael Gove, and the Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales will attend from the UK Government.

The First Ministers and Deputy First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all invited.

The UK Government says while areas facing some of the toughest comebacks are devolved, there are “common challenges”.

“By working together and sharing experiences, each can learn from the other and deliver better outcomes for families across the UK,” a statement reads.

The Cabinet Office said that the UK Government is undertaking “detailed work” about the scale of recovery which will be shared with the devolved nations.

“Throughout the pandemic, the UK Government and devolved administrations have worked closely together, at official and ministerial level with dozens of meetings every month. This has been illustrated in the UK’s world-leading vaccine rollout.

“The UK Government used its purchasing power to procure vaccines at scale for the whole UK, and health authorities across the UK rolled out delivery of the jabs. The British armed forces played a crucial supporting role across the country.

“Everyone, in all parts of the UK, has benefited.

“The Prime Minister will propose that this close joint working and spirit of co-operation continues in the months and years ahead, as we begin the process of building a sustainable recovery.”

Mr Gove said: “I am delighted that the leaders of the devolved administrations all responded positively to the Prime Minister’s invitation to join this important meeting on Covid recovery.

“Throughout the pandemic we have worked together to stop the spread of the virus and to roll out life-saving vaccines. Our joint success has shown the world what we can achieve as a United Kingdom.

“We must take the same approach to the difficult challenge of rebuilding our economy and public services from the damaging impact of Covid-19. It will not be a quick or easy job, but we will all do better if we face the challenge together.”