Boris pitch to Leave heartlands

BORIS Johnson will today trigger fresh speculation about his Tory leadership ambitions by unveiling a manifesto about how to “use Brexit to unite the country”.

The former Foreign Secretary will call for lower taxes, curbs on immigration and more devolution of power to build a fairer UK after our departure from the EU.

He will insist the Government needs to address the “issues that drove Brexit” and “use this moment to become more productive and more dynamic”.

Mr Johnson will head to the heart of Leave-voting territory in the Midlands to make his pitch for a change in direction at JCB’s headquarters in Rocester.

He say that while Brexit “was about democracy” the Leave vote “was also triggered by a feeling that the people of this country have been drifting too far apart”.

Excessive numbers of low-paid migrant workers had helped to drive down pay for many in the country, Mr Johnson will say.

“If we want the people of Britain to have a pay rise, as I do, then we can’t expect to do it by simply controlling immigration, we have to address all the causes of the productivity gap that has so massively expanded.”

Mr Johnson will call the gap between the London economy and other parts of the UK “the most worrying” and said people had voted Leave “because they wanted something done”.

He will say that council tax, business rates, stamp duty and land tax should be given “to local mayors and politicians to spend so that they have clear incentives to go for growth.”