‘Project Speed’: Boris pledges billions to get Britain booming again
BORIS Johnson today pledges to spend tens of billions of pounds to save the British economy from disaster in the wake of the crippling coronavirus epidemic.
In an exclusive interview with the Mail on Sunday, the Prime Minister promises a building blitz of hospitals, schools, housing developments and ‘shovel-ready’ road and rail infrastructure projects – while an ‘opportunity guarantee’ will aim to save the jobs of workers who have been shut out from the employment market. Signalling a clear break with the policy of austerity imposed by David Cameron following the last financial crisis in 2008, Mr Johnson says that he will be ‘doubling down’ on his pledge to ‘level up’ the distribution of wealth across the country.
Mr Johnson says: ‘This has been a huge, huge shock to the country but we’re going to bounce back very well.
‘We want to build our way back to health. If Covid was a lightning flash, we’re about to have the thunderclap of the economic consequences. We’re going to be ready.’
He adds: ‘The lesson is to act fast and we’re going to make sure that we have plans to help people whose old jobs are not there any more to get the opportunities they need. We are absolutely not going back to the austerity of ten years ago’.
The Prime Minister will announce details of his plan – which he describes as ‘a very big moment’ – in a major setpiece speech on Tuesday, to be followed by an economic statement from Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, next month.
Mr Johnson’s vow came as:
He responded to Westminster rumours of poor health by doing press-ups in Downing Street during the interview – and saying that he felt ‘as fit as a butcher’s dog’.
The UK recorded 100 more coronavirus deaths, the lowest Saturday figure since the start of lockdown and nearly a quarter down on the figure from seven days earlier.
The Prime Minister said that if the crowded scenes on beaches during last week’s heatwave were repeated, he would order the micro-lockdown of individual towns.
Former PM John Major was attacked by senior Conservatives after he called for borrowing and taxes rise to pay for a ‘greater role’ of the state following the pandemic.
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick came under fresh pressure over his handling of a Tory donor’s £1 billion property development after a whistleblower accused Mr Jenrick of playing ‘fast and loose’ with the case.
The Prime Minister will use his speech to announce a taskforce – dubbed ‘Project Speed’, and led by Mr Sunak – to cut down the time it takes to deliver ‘high quality infrastructure’, including 40 new hospitals, 10,000 prison places and a school rebuilding programme.
Increases in UK Government spending in devolved areas, such as health and education, will lead to more money for the Scottish Government through the Barnett Formula.
However, spending on major infrastructure projects in England does not always lead to a cash boost for the devolved administrations.
Instead, the UK Government could choose to directly fund major new developments, such as the proposed ‘Union tunnel’ that would link Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Mr Johnson told this newspaper: ‘We’re going to need a very committed, dynamic plan – not just for infrastructure, not just for investment but making sure that young people have the confidence they need, that we are going to help them get into a place of work, to keep their skills up, to keep learning on the job and get a highly paid, highly skilled job that will stand them in good stead for a long time to come.
‘We are going to have plans for work placements, supporting young people in jobs, apprenticeships, getting people into the workplace, making sure that their skills don’t just fall into disuse and we’re going to give an opportunity guarantee for all young people’.
But he also called on the British people to exercise restraint when pubs, restaurants and hotels open in England on July 4.
Describing the crisis as ‘one of the biggest challenges this country has had to face in 75 years’, Mr Johnson said: ‘The Government has done some things right, but the biggest thing of all was the public doing it right.
‘I say to those people who are going out in large groups – you may think that you are immortal, that you won’t be a sufferer, but the bug you carry can kill your family and friends.
‘We want to get to a world where we are as close to normal as possible as fast as possible. I don’t want a second lockdown. Wherever there is a local outbreak, whether in Ashfield or Anglesea, we will empower the local authorities to quarantine everyone who has got it, test back to the moment of infection and make the necessary closures’.
Referring to his improving health, he said: ‘I’m as fit as a butcher’s dog now. The country is going to bounce forward, and I certainly feel full of beans. Never felt better.’
‘We’re not going back to austerity of ten years ago’