Nervous Johnson promises Brexit and lower immigration
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was nervous about his narrowing lead in opinion polls ahead of Thursday’s election but pledged to deliver a “transformative” Brexit on January 31 that would allow lower immigration.
The December 12 election will decide the fate of Brexit and the world’s fifth-largest economy with a stark choice between Johnson’s pro-market Conservatives and the socialistled opposition Labour Party.
“Brexit is the most radical and profound change to the management of this country,” Johnson said, adding that he would lead the UK out of the EU on January 31 if he won a majority in the 650-seat parliament.
“Brexit is indispensable — you can’t move forward without Brexit.”
Voting begins at 7am on Thursday and polls close at 10pm, when an exit poll will give the first indication of who has won.
Johnson will likely need more than 320 seats to ensure he can stay prime minister and ratify the Brexit deal he struck in October.
Opinion polls, which largely failed to predict the 2016 referendum result or former PM Theresa May’s loss of her majority in the 2017 snap election, show Johnson leads Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, though the lead has narrowed in recent weeks.
Four opinion polls published on Saturday put the lead of Johnson’s Conservatives over Labour at between eight and 15 points.
No major poll shows Corbyn, a committed socialist who wants to bring swathes of the British economy into state ownership and raise taxes on the financiers of London, will win.
But Labour could still lead a minority government if it deprives Johnson of a majority because few other parties are willing to prop up a Johnson government.
Labour proposes negotiating a new deal and then holding another EU referendum. —