PM thanks pupils for ‘sacrifice’

BORIS JOHNSON has told students that their efforts and “sacrifice” have helped save hundreds of thousands of lives amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In a virtual address to school leavers, the Prime Minister said their generation – which he acknowledged have had to “grow up” faster during the pandemic – will be “vital” to the national effort to rebuild the country.

He urged them to jump on every opportunity that comes their way and “rugby tackle” it to the floor, as he predicted that they would become one of the most “influential generations in the peacetime history of our nation”.

He added: “Because of you, because of your sacrifice, we’ve saved hundreds of thousands of lives.”