Johnson Warns Angry Public of ‘Tough’ Winter: U.K. Tory Update
Johnson Says He Won’t Be ‘Blown off Course’: U.K. Tory Update
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he knows people are “furious” over the way his government has handled the pandemic, but warned that coronavirus will make for a “very tough” winter, with difficulties lasting through Christmas and beyond.
The U.K.’s Tories, in power for the past 10 years, are holding their annual conference online this year due to pandemic restrictions. Follow latest developments here.
Key developments:
- Johnson tells BBC Andrew Marr voters are angry, but winter will be tough with the virus
- Johnson says he wants a Brexit trade deal but U.K. will prosper without one
- PM says Eat Out to Help Out summer drive may have helped spread covid
- Minister says ‘al fresco’ freedoms for pubs should be permanent
- Home Secretary Priti Patel speaks at 3 p.m.
U.K. to Reform Asylum System (3:15 p.m.)
Home Secretary Priti Patel said she would bring legislation next year to reform the country’s asylum system, and step up a crackdown on criminal gangs in the meantime.
“I will take every necessary step to fix this broken system,” Patel said at the Conservative Party conference. “We will continue to hunt down the criminal gangs who traffic people into our country.”
Patel said the system is open to abuse and it takes too long to progress genuine asylum claims.
“We will make more immediate returns of those who come here illegally and break our rules,” she said. “We will continue to examine all practical measures to effectively deter illegal migration.”
U.K. Drafts Priority List for Vaccine (2:21 p.m.)
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government has prepared a priority list for who would receive the coronavirus vaccine first, when one becomes available.
“We’ve set that out in draft, pending the final clinical data,” he said at the Conservative Party conference. “The plans are in train. A combination of the NHS and the armed forces are involved in the logistics, making the roll-out happen.”
Hancock said they are working as fast they can to get a vaccine, though no vaccine technology is certain.
Outdoor Freedoms for Pubs Could Stay (1:45 p.m.)
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said the reduction on restrictions in the hospitality sector – such as allowing al fresco dining or takeaway services without special permits – should outlast the pandemic.
“I don’t see any reason why we would ask cafes and restaurants now to go back to the way it used to be before,” he said at Conservative Party conference. “I would definitely like to make many of those changes permanent.”
Jenrick also said the government plans to focus on building “more beautifully” and “more sustainably” as it aims to increase the supply of homes, with new planning rules.
Johnson Warns of ‘Very Tough Winter’ (9:45 a.m.)
Johnson acknowledged public anger over the government’s handling of the pandemic, especially in areas subject to tight lockdown rules, but warned that the country faces “a very tough winter” ahead.
“I know people are furious and they’re furious with me and they’re furious with the government,” he said on the BBC’s Andrew Marr program. “It’s going to be bumpy through to Christmas, it may even be bumpy beyond.”
Johnson conceded that the government’s encouragement for people to eat out over the summer may have helped to spread the virus, and also that its test and trace system needed to improve.
“Of course I’m frustrated with it,” he said of the government covid testing regime. “It’s not perfect, but it has made a huge difference to our ability to see where the virus is spreading.”
He said it is possible that there will be significant progress on a vaccine by December and that scientists told him the outlook for the pandemic will be radically different by next spring.
Johnson: U.K. Can ‘Live With’ No EU Deal (9:50 a.m.)
Johnson said a Brexit free trade deal with the EU is “there to be done” but warned of “difficult issues” that are yet to be fixed. Speaking to the BBC’s Marr, the premier said he had a good phonecall with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday, where the two sides agreed to intensify negotiations.
“I don’t want the Australian, WTO-type outcome particularly, but we can more than live with it,” he said. “We can prosper mightily under those circumstances.”
Tories Must ‘Do More’ to Keep Scotland (8:48 a.m.)
Leader of the Scottish Conservatives Douglas Ross said his party needs to make a stronger case for why Scotland should stay in the U.K.
“I think we’ve had policy and feeling among U.K. government departments of devolving and forgetting. I want to change that mindset,” Ross told “Sophy Ridge on Sunday” on Sky News. “We need to do more to remember that Scotland has two governments.”
“The prime minister would accept that his government and successive governments haven’t made the case for strengthening the U.K.,” Ross said.
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