British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday said his determination to “build back better” after the pandemic, despite a supply crisis in the United Kingdom exacerbated by the country’s exit from the European Union. “We did not endure the Covid to return to the situation that prevailed before,” said the leader before the start, on Sunday, of the annual conference of his Conservative Party in Manchester (north-west of England).
Stressing that his government had kept its campaign promise by carrying out Brexit and that it had massively vaccinated against Covid-19, he said he wanted to take “bold decisions” to meet the priorities of the British, such as employment, security and climate change. “All of this shows that we are keeping our word, and now is the time to go further, not only to recover but also to build back better,” he added.
First face-to-face conference for two years
Scheduled from this Sunday to Wednesday, the great annual conference of the Tories, the first face-to-face for two years due to the coronavirus, represents an opportunity for the conservative leader to speak to his troops. His speech is scheduled for Wednesday. Arrived in power in July 2019, winner of the general elections organized a few months later on the promise to “achieve Brexit”, Boris Johnson, 57, must now convince the British of the benefits of leaving the European Union that he boasted so much.
Because for the moment, its effects only seem to worsen certain consequences of the pandemic, in particular as regards the difficulty of finding truck drivers – up to 100,000 are lacking in the United Kingdom – to supply shelves of supermarkets and vats of stations – service. The government has repeatedly said that this situation is linked to the recovery in the wheel hats of the global economy after the pandemic and to exceptional demand caused by panic buying at gas stations.
Conservatives still leading the polls
In an attempt to address the shortage of truck drivers and staff at poultry farms, and in the face of the threat of empty shelves at Christmas, it has temporarily relaxed its immigration policy to grant up to 10,500 temporary work visas. From Monday, about 200 soldiers will also be deployed to supply gas stations, in front of which long queues have been forming for two weeks.
On the sidelines of a visit to a hospital in Manchester on Saturday, Boris Johnson did not rule out issuing more temporary work visas, while warning the road transport industry that it could no longer rely mainly on immigrant drivers “At low wages”. Despite these difficulties, the Conservatives (39%) continue to lead Labor (35%) in voting intentions, according to an Opinium Poll published on Saturday evening. However, some 59% of those polled believe that Brexit is going badly and 69% believe that the government has mismanaged the truck driver crisis.
