Bold Boris banking it all on Brexit

BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised yesterday “to get Brexit done,” pledging in his Conservative Party’s manifesto to bring his deal to leave the European Union back to parliament before Christmas and ruling out any more delay.

With less than three weeks before Britain heads to the polls on December 12, the governing Conservatives and opposition Labor Party are trying to tempt voters with different visions of the country’s future but both pledging to spend more.

Johnson’s manifesto aims at drawing a distinction with Labor, which has promised to raise taxes on the rich and businesses to fund a big expansion of the state, by promising not to increase taxes if the Conservatives win the election.

Opinion polls show Johnson’s Conservative Party commands a sizeable lead over the Labor Party, although large numbers of undecided voters mean the outcome is not certain.

“Get Brexit done and we shall see a pent up tidal wave of investment into this country,” Johnson said, launching his manifesto in at a conference center in Telford in central England.

“Get Brexit done and we can focus our hearts and our minds on the priorities of the British people.”

Arriving at the center, Johnson was welcomed by supporters chanting “Boris” but a little further away, protesters shouted: “Liar, liar, pants on fire.”

Contrasting with Labor’s unabashed tax-and-spend approach, Johnson’s manifesto — titled “Get Brexit Done, Unleash Britain’s Potential” — will pledge to freeze income tax, value-added sales tax and social security payments.

Johnson will announce 3 billion pounds (US$3.85 billion) for a National Skills Fund to retrain workers and an extra 2 billion pounds to fill pot-holes inroads.

He will also pledge to maintain the regulatory cap on energy bills.

Labor spokesman Andrew Gwynne said Johnson’s plans were “pathetic.”

“This is a no-hope manifesto, from a party that has nothing to offer the country, after spending 10 years cutting our public services,” Gwynne said.

To try to win over voters,

Labor announced another spending commitment, promising to compensate more than three million women who lost years of state pension payments when their retirement age was raised.

Think-tanks such as the Institute for Fiscal Studies have raised questions about the credibility of plans to fund investment from both the Conservatives and Labor.

In a heated campaign where the Conservatives have been criticized for disseminating misleading social media posts, Johnson, 55, will say he will “turn the page from the dither, delay and division” of recent years.

Labor has said it will negotiate a better Brexit deal with the EU within six months.

(Reuters)