Alexander Boris Pfeffel Johnson is a British politician and also a writer who is currently serving as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party since 2019. Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave a speech to the Conservative Party Conference. It was Boris’ first in-person speech to the Conservative Party conference since the pandemic hit the globe. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to accelerate the entire United Kingdom towards high-paying and high-skill employment in a speech to the Conservative Party Conference. He also accused previous Labour and Tory governments of delaying and dithering. 

The prime minister also promised that a reforming government will be there and that it is already a “can-do government that got Brexit done, is getting the vaccine rollout done, and is going to get social care done”. He promised to make improvements in all the areas of the United Kingdom. He also included this statement “we are dealing with the biggest underlying issues of our economy and society, the problems that no government has had the guts to tackle before”. Promising “radical and optimistic conservatism”, he stated about the economy, wages, and housing. There were many statements and key moments in the speech that made the headlines and facts were checked for general purposes. We will discuss that in this giving article. 

Key Moments of the Speech 

There were several notable moments in the speech that should be known. Here is the list:

1. Economy 

The Prime Minister promised to reform the economic system. He also pledged to keep aside the pre-Brexit system of “low wages, low growth, low skills, and low productivity”; he added that this problem arises because of the assistance of uncontrolled immigration. He did not say that he would ban immigrants but included that immigration should be controlled to allow people with talent to come into the country for greater opportunities but will restrict the use of immigration as an excuse providing failure to invest in people, skills, and the mechanics involved. 

He stated that high-wage and high-skill employment will be introduced across the country. It will allow the United Kingdom to move to a low tax economy that is highly deserved by the citizens of the country. 

2. NHS and Social Care 

Boris Johnson said that the pandemic ignited more fire to the existing issues the NHS was facing. He defended his controversial plans for raising National Insurance Contributions for funding social care by adding, “Does anyone think funding the NHS should not be a priority?”. He stated that the government will stand by those who are struggling to pay for social care. He said that the money will not be spent on unnecessary bureaucracy. 

3. Leveling up 

Boris Johnson claimed that labor does not like to level up. The prime minister stated that inequalities in the United Kingdom exist within the region and pointed out how there is no reason why citizens living in one part of the country have to be poorer than the citizens living in other parts. He used the term “geographically fated to be poorer”. This leveling up will be worth E3,000, encouraging science and maths teachers to teach in different areas of the country. 

4. Vaccine Capitalism 

Boris Johnson celebrated the government’s speedful vaccination campaign and said how every jab became a job for an individual. 

5. Crime 

He discussed youth crime rates and stated that criminal tendencies in children reciprocate the environment or neighborhood they come from. He said, “It is all about opportunity” and also added, “It is still a grim fact that some kids will grow up in neighborhoods that are much safer than others”. 

Fact check of some statements used in the speech 

Here is a fact check of the statements made by the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson:

1. “We now have the fastest growth in the G7”

Let us understand what G7 is in a simple manner. G7 is nothing but a group of big economies. Production of everything in the United Kingdom grew 5.5% between April and June. Thus, the Prime Minister is right. The United Kingdom does have the fastest growth in the G7.

Though the economy of the United Kingdom was hit strongly by the pandemic that made the growth turn backward. Before the pandemic happened, the United Kingdom had the joint 5th best growth in the G7.

2. “48 new hospitals, 50,000 more nurses”

Here, Boris Johnson was talking about the refurbishments of hospitals that already exist. This plan is to build them by the year 2030 and thus, it is a work that is still in progress. Construction work has begun at six sites so far. One of these hospitals is a new cancer center on a hospital site in Bath. The five other hospitals are under pre-existing schemes (over the last 10 years) and include building work that stopped after construction collapsed in Carillion.

The party promised 50,000 more nurses for England by March 2025. The latest estimation of June 2021 shows that there were 310,252 NHS full-time nurses and health visitors. The numbers are greater by 14,158 compared to December of 2019. 

3. “We have done 68 free trade deals, and that great free trade deal with our friends in the EU” 

Deals have been done with sixty-eight nations including the EU. 63 of these deals were “rollover” deals which means that they included the deals the United Kingdom had when it was an EU member instead of creating any other new benefits. Deals with nations such as Japan, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein are different from those with the EU. The United Kingdom has also agreed in principle to a free trade deal with Australia. 

4. “In Ribble Valley…they live seven years longer than the people of Blackpool only 33 miles away”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated this example when he was talking about leveling up. The latest figures of the office for National Statistics that produces life expectancy data at a regional and local level shows that the life expectancy at birth for males in Blackpool is 74 and is 81 in Ribble Valley, the female life expectancy at birth 79 in Blackpool and 84 in Ribble Valley. Boris Johnson was accurate in this statement. 

5. “What’s Labour’s answer {to drug dealing } by the way? To decriminalize hard drugs apparently- to let the dealers off with caution”

The way Boris Johson suggested that Labor has the policy to decriminalize hard drugs is completely out of place. The party itself confirmed that it never supported this. When asked for the proof, the Conservatives pointed to an interview taken last month. In that interview, Keir Starmer was asked about the Scotland Scheme implemented to give people caught with Class A drugs a police warning and he supported that. 

6. “Wages are going up faster than before the pandemic began”

During the three months to March 2020, the average salary was worth 1% more compared to last year. The recent figurative ranging from April to July 2021 estimates that the average salary is now worth 4.5% more than it had been a year ago. Work and Pension Secretary Therese Coffey stated that the average earning rise is a “statistical anomaly”. 

In the end, it was stated by the Office for National Statistics analysis, which strips out the distortions, that what Boris Johnson was saying is correct in some ways. 

Conclusion 

The speech given by Boris Johnson was the first in-person speech to the Conservative Party conference since the pandemic outbreak. He talked about the economy, social care, young crime statistics, leveling up, vaccination, and much more. Fact checks of his statements with authorized parties confirm that the statements made by Boris Johnson were close to the truth and can be accepted in general. Fact check is always important as everyone has the right to be informed about the things taking place in the country.