London: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveils his Conservative Party’s manifesto on Sunday, pledging to move on from Brexit and austerity in a bid to secure a general election majority.
Having taken over a minority administration in July and been unable to speed his EU divorce deal through parliament, Johnson is seeking a clear victory at the December 12 snap election. He sees Britain’s third general election in four-and-a-half years as the only way to break the Brexit logjam. Having got the Brexit date delayed three months from October 31 to January 31, opposition parties backed his call for an early general election.
Johnson is promising to bring back his Brexit deal to parliament before December 25 if the centre-right Conservatives are returned to power. “The Conservative manifesto, which I’m proud to launch today, will get Brexit done and allow us to move on and unleash the potential of the whole country,” Johnson said.
The main plank of the Conservative manifesto is the Brexit deal Johnson negotiated with Brussels in October. He claims the treaty is “oven-ready” and good to go — as long as he can get a majority. He insists the deal will allow Britain to regain control over its laws, money and immigration policy. The party is pledging it will not raise the three main taxes — income tax, sales tax and national insurance contributions to state benefits — in what it branded a triple tax lock.
Other measures being unveiled on Sunday include more money for childcare support, energy efficiency measures, skills retraining and road upgrades. Hospital car parking charges would be axed for certain patients and National Health Service staff.
The Britain Elects poll aggregator puts the Conservatives on 42 per cent, ahead of the Labour main opposition on 29 per cent, the anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats on 15 per cent, the Brexit Party on six per cent and the Greens on three per cent.
Despite the poll advantage, commentators urge caution, mindful that May had a huge percentage lead in the 2017 general election which rapidly melted. (AFP)
