Boris hails ‘brighter future’ for the West
Prime Minister upbeat about region in party conference address
THE South West “can look forward to a brighter future” once the pandemic is over, Boris Johnson has said.
In a speech to delegates at the South West Conservative Conference, held online at the weekend, the Prime Minister said the roll-out of vaccinations in the region and efforts to protect businesses and jobs through the crisis gave him confidence for the region going ahead.
He highlighted the Government’s commitment to ‘level up’ regional support – an issue at the heart of the Westcountry’s Back The Great South West campaign – and praised Cornwall as “the perfect location” for hosting the G7 summit this summer, adding: “I’m very much looking forward to welcoming world leaders to this great region.”
More than 1.1 million people in the South West have now received a vaccine and Mr Johnson said that thanks to the work of scientists and the rollout of jabs “we will get through this disease that has robbed us of so much and so many”.
The Prime Minister said initiatives, including the furlough scheme, had protected more than 160,000 jobs in the South West during coronavirus restrictions. Turning to wider issues he told the 400 party representatives attending from across the region, including MPs and councillors, that eleven of the 40 new hospital facilities promised nationally will be built in the region and over 400 extra police officers have been recruited in the South West.
THE South West “can look forward to a brighter future” once the pandemic is over, Boris Johnson has said.
Speaking at the virtual South West Conservative Conference at the weekend, the Prime Minister highlighted the government’s work to ramp up vaccinations and testing in the region while protecting jobs and supporting businesses through the pandemic.
In addition he highlighted the Government’s commitment to ‘level up’ regional support – an issue at the heart of the Westcountry’s Back The Great South West campaign.
More than 1.1 million people in the South West have now received a vaccine, protecting around one in five of the region’s population. Mr Johnson said: “As our vaccine programme is rolled out across the country, and we see many thousands of people vaccinated each day, I am confident we can look forward to a brighter future.”
Carbis Bay in Cornwall has been chosen to host the G7 Summit in June and Mr Johnson, who was brought up on Exmoor, told the conference: “Cornwall is the perfect location for such a crucial summit. I’m very much looking forward to welcoming world leaders to this great region and country.”
The Prime Minister said the Conservatives were pushing on with their headline manifesto commitments to boost the NHS, police and schools. Eleven of the 40 new hospitals promised will be in the South West, while over 400 extra police officers have already been recruited in the region. “We are embarking on the biggest hospital building programme in a generation,” he said.
“In the next 10 years we will build 40 new hospitals and upgrade 20 more. This includes St Ann’s Hospital in Dorset, where we are building a new centre for child and adult mental health, a rebuild of the Dorchester and Poole community hospitals, redeveloping North Devon District Hospital and Bournemouth Community Hospital and rebuilding Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton and Torbay Hospital in Torquay. We are constructing a new cancer hospital in Bath and a new women and children’s hospital in Truro. We’re building a new integrated emergency care hospital at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth as well as rebuilding Christchurch Community Hospital in Dorset.
“This is alongside delivering the NHS’s biggest cash boost in history, investing almost £34billion in frontline NHS services every year by 2024. We’re on track to recruit the 50,000 more nurses we promised – and we have already recruited more than 14,000.
“We’re fulfilling our manifesto commitment to recruit 20,000 police officers. And latest statistics show we’ve already recruited over 6,600 police officers, with over 400 of those based in the South West.”
Mr Johnson said that funding for primary and secondary schools was being increased and a Lifetime Skills Guarantee had been launched.
“Our Levelling Up Fund, worth more than £6billion, will invest in local infrastructure and support economic recovery,” he said, adding: “Throughout the pandemic we have protected more than 160,000 jobs in the South West through the furlough scheme, provided more than £3.3billion in business support through both Bounce Back Loans and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and we’ve set up more than 100 local coronavirus testing sites across the South West of England.”
The South West Conservative Conference was attended by over 400 party representatives from across the region, including MPs, councillors, Police and Crime Commissioners and local election candidates, officers and members. Cabinet members Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary, and George Eustice, Environment Secretary and MP for Camborne and Redruth, were among the keynote speakers. Other ministers to speak included Minister for Business and Industry, Johnny Mercer, Minister for Defence People and Veterans and MP for Plymouth Moor View, Rebecca Pow, Environment Minister and MP for Taunton Deane. Several other South West MPs played leading roles including Neil Parish (Tiverton and Honiton) and Simon Jupp (East Devon).