Updated 30 June 2020 at 19:02 IST
UK PM Johnson vows to rebuild infrastructure by 'fueling economic renewal' amid COVID-19
While UK PM Boris Johnson’s leadership has been facing severe criticism by many, he has announced the government’s plan to “build, build, build" back country.
While the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s leadership has been facing severe criticism by many, he has announced the government’s plan to “build, build, build” back the deteriorating economy and country's businesses. After acknowledging that his announcement “to build back better” might seem immature because the “deceptively nasty disease is still rampant” in other parts of the world, Johnson said in a press briefing on June 30 that the British government will be doubling down on its strategy on “levelling up” and pledged full commitment to do so.
Just a day after UK Labour Party leader Keir Starmer criticised the British PM for being “slow”, Johnson said that the government will be providing “everyone growing up” with the required opportunity. From investing £14 billion in primary and secondary education between 2020 and 2023 to £5 billion investment for the building up of hospitals, schools, transport, prisons among other structures, UK PM assured that the country will tackle all the challenges.
UK PM also informed that next week British Chancellor Rishi Sunak would be setting out the immediate plan to support the economy through the initial phase of recovery. From NHS to infrastructure, Johnson’s optimistic address included all aspects boost the plunging businesses of the country.
UK PM, “This is a government that is wholly committed not just to defeating coronavirus but to using this crisis finally to tackle this country’s great unresolved challenges of the last three decades.”
“To build the homes, to fix the NHS, to solve social care, to tackle the skills crisis, to mend the indefensible gap in opportunity and productivity and connectivity between the regions of the UK, to unite and level up and to that end, we will build, build, build. Build back better build back greener build back faster,” he added.
UK PM was 'too slow'
However, this came after UK Labour Party leader Keir Starmer visited Stevenage and had a word with the construction team on site. He noted that Johnson’s response to the health crisis was “too slow” but the same can not be repeated while reopening the country’s economy. Calling it one of his concerns, the Labour Party said that at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, UK PM “didn’t see the problems that were coming”. He also said that Boris Johnson was “dismissive” of the challenge of containing the spread of coronavirus and “was just too slow”.
Keir Starmer said that UK PM was “slow into the lockdown, slow to provide protective equipment, slow on testing, slow to appreciate the problems in care homes and now slow on track and trace. We can’t go into the economic crisis that’s coming alongside the health crisis in the same way.”
Published By : Aanchal Nigam
Published On: 30 June 2020 at 19:02 IST