U.K.’S Johnson pledges economic growth
LONDON — Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised on Tuesday to revive Britain’s economic growth to help those struggling with a cost-of-living crisis and to tackle regional inequalities after setting out his government’s agenda for the coming months.
Punished by voters in last week’s local elections over COVID lockdown-related scandals and soaring inflation, Johnson said his ruling Conservative Party would “deliver on the promises we made” in the 2019 election.
The plans, contained in the Queen’s Speech, were read out at the ceremonial State Opening of Parliament for the first time in 59 years not by Queen Elizabeth but by her eldest son and heir, Prince Charles, due to the monarch’s mobility problems.
But there was little to comfort the millions of Britons struggling with higher fuel and food costs, with the government reiterating that it would “repair the public finances” rather than channel additional money to cushion the blow.
Johnson told parliament his government would do all it could to help those struggling with rising prices, but “however great our compassion and ingenuity, we cannot simply spend our way out of this problem, we need to grow out of this problem.”
“We will get through the after-shocks of COVID ... by urgently pressing on with our mission to create the highwage, high-skilled jobs that will drive economic growth across the United Kingdom,” he said.
Earlier, in a ceremony full of pomp and pageantry, Charles — who wore the uniform of an admiral of the fleet — read the speech in front of robed lords and lawmakers, who had walked from the House of Commons to the upper chamber, the House of Lords, led by Johnson and opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer.