PM plans to spend £5bn in ‘new deal’
Investment in hospitals, schools, roads, rail and jobs promised in major speech
BORIS JOHNSON will today promise to use the coronavirus crisis to “finally tackle this country’s great unresolved challenges of the last three decades” as he sets out plans for £5bn of investment in roads, hospitals and schools.
In a major speech in the West Midlands, designed to reset the Government’s domestic agenda after what he described as the “absolute nightmare” of the pandemic, the Prime Minister will unveil what he described as a ‘new deal’ focusing on jobs and infrastructure.
Pledging to bring forward capital investments worth £5bn, he will promise £1.5bn will be spent on hospital maintenance and improving A&E capacity this year.
Some £100m will also be spent on road projects, including improving the quality of the A15 in the Humber region, with a further £10m to unblock the bottleneck on Manchester’s railways which has a knock-on effect on the rest of the North.
A further £900m has been promised for “shovel ready” local growth projects and £96m to speed up investment in town centres and high streets.
However, opposition MPs accused him of not offering any new ideas and trying to “hoodwink” voters with rehashed promises.
And the National Infrastructure Strategy, originally due to be part of Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s March Budget, will not be published until autumn. The strategy sets a clear direction on core economic infrastructure, including energy networks, road and rail, flood defences and waste,
Number 10 said last night that the PM wanted to set a “path to balance the books” in the longterm after spending billions to stop the economy collapsing due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But a spokeswoman said he was “clear that we will not do so at the expense of investing now in the productive potential of the economy, or at the expense of the resilience of the UK’s public services.”
The Prime Minister said he is preparing for an effort comparable to Franklin D Roosevelt’s New Deal following the Great Depression in the US in the 1930s. And in his speech he will say his plan was meant to “sound positively Rooseveltian” because “that is what the times demand”.
He will say: “This is a government that is wholly committed not just to defeating coronavirus but to using this crisis finally to tackle this country’s great unresolved challenges of the last three decades.
“To build the homes, to fix the NHS, to tackle the skills crisis, to mend the indefensible gap in opportunity and productivity and connectivity between the regions of the UK. To unite and level up.
“To that end we will build build build. Build back better, build back greener, build back faster and to do that at the pace that this moment requires.”
Tom Lees, Director of the centre-right Northern Policy Foundation think-tank, said: “At the General Election, the North dramatically turned blue and backed Boris – now the Prime Minister is looking to repay that trust. Roosevelt’s New Deal transformed the US for the better, hopefully, the Prime Minister’s will do the same and improve lives across Yorkshire.”
As part of the plan, the Government is making a 10-year undertaking to improve school facilities, along with sprucing up classrooms in use. Labour said the promised spending would need to reverse a “lost decade” of stagnant investment in many parts of the country.
Analysis by the party suggested that seven of England’s nine regions saw a reduction in public capital investment per person over the past 10 years since the Conservatives came to power.
In some parts of the country, including Yorkshire, East Midlands and the South West, investment per person is still less than half that seen in London, Labour said.
In an interview with Times Radio yesterday, Mr Johnson acknowledged that coronavirus has been a “an absolute nightmare” for the UK. But he said: “The country has gone through a profound shock. But in those moments you have the opportunity to change and to do things better.”
We will build back better, build back greener, build back faster. Prime Minister Boris Johnson in his West Midlands speech today.
A YORKSHIRE farm’s online showcase of rural life has not only won the praise of Prime Minister Boris Johnson but also of a senior NHS critical care nurse who welcomed its “light relief” between shifts.
Brothers David and Robert Nicholson, of Cannon Hall Farm, in Barnsley, have won a Points of Light award for their Lockdown Livestream.
Given by 10 Downing Street, it recognises outstanding volunteers and people who are making a change in their community.
The brothers share a daily live broadcast to more than 150,000 viewers, educating children about looking after the animals and helping connect people with nature while they are having to stay at home.
With the family farm temporarily closed to visitors, they decided to start sharing videos to provide a lift for people isolating at home, including streaming lamb and goat kid births live.
Their online videos have now been viewed more than seven million times, and thanks to the popularity of their broadcasts, the brothers now feature on the new Channel 5 show This Week on The Farm, which airs at 8pm on Tuesdays.
Natalie English, a senior nurse on a critical care ward at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, has found brief moments of solace from the online videos in between long shifts.
She said: “Work has been super busy, super stressful – life in general is super stressful – and it was just light relief. You watch the videos and whilst we’re not able to get outdoors...you felt like you were outdoors.”
In a letter to Robert and David, Mr Johnson said the pair “exemplify” Britain’s farmers.
He said: “Over the last few months, your daily broadcasts have allowed a nation in isolation to revel in the natural glory of Cannon Hall Farm, and to ramble alongside you in the spectacular Yorkshire countryside.
“Your ingenuity has fortified the nation’s spirit as we continue our fight against coronavirus.”
David Nicholson said: “We are so proud to have been able to share our family farm on a national scale – and represent our home town of Barnsley.”