Boris Calls on Britons to Make UK ‘Corbyn-Neutral by Christmas’, Pledges to ‘Get Brexit Done’, Triple Tax Lock

TELFORD, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 24: Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivers a speech at the laun
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Victoria Friedman

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has unveiled the Conservative Party’s election manifesto where he promised to increase spending on public services without raising taxes and to “get Brexit done” by January 2020.

The Tories have made a number of pledges going into the December 12th general election, including extra funding for the NHS, with 50 million more GP surgery appointments every year and 50,000 more nurses. In terms of law and order, the party will continue with its drive to hire 20,000 new police officers and introduce “tougher sentencing for criminals”.

Once the UK leaves the EU and its free movement regime, the manifesto says that the UK can once again take control of its immigration policy, announcing an “Australian-style points-based system to control immigration”. The party did not, as it had in the past, commit to an immigration cap — which it had never intended to fulfil — but said: “There will be fewer lower-skilled migrants, and overall numbers will come down.”

The manifesto also revealed plans for up to ten free ports to benefit England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Free ports are areas with little to no tax, which function to encourage economic activity. Companies operating in free ports can avoid paying taxes on goods if they bring them in to manufacture on-site before exporting them.

The Conservatives pledged a “Triple Tax Lock” where the rates of VAT, income tax, and national insurance contributions will not rise under their government.

Speaking from Telford on Sunday afternoon at the manifesto’s launch, Prime Minister Johnson said that it would be possible to invest millions more into science, schools, infrastructure, technology, and apprenticeships “and control our debt at the same time”.

“We can do all these things without raising our income tax, VAT, or National Insurance contributions,” he said.

Mr Johnson’s headliner commitment was to “get Brexit done”. He said: “Unlike any other party standing in this election, we’re going to get Brexit done with a deal that is pre-cooked, ready to go, approved not just by our friends in the EU but by every single one of the 635 candidates standing at this election.

“A deal that will allow us to deliver all the opportunities of Brexit from freeports to free trade to cutting VAT on sanitary products and improving the welfare of animals. Get Brexit done!”

The prime minister said that the UK would be “out by January 31st” if his party is returned with a majority that can pass his deal.

Post-Brexit, the prime minister said that being free of the EU will result in a “tidal wave of investment into this country”. The manifesto outlines that the government will “aim to have 80 per cent of UK trade covered by free trade agreements within the next three years, starting with the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. These will be negotiated in parallel with our EU deal. We will also forge stronger links with the Commonwealth.”

In terms of trading with the developing world, the document said: “Our trade deals will not only be free but fair – in particular towards the developing nations whose economies could be transformed by access to the UK’s markets and expertise. We can, for example, include provisions in our new free trade agreements that promote the fair treatment of workers and advance women’s empowerment.”

Warning that a Labour government under Jeremy Corbyn would result in a second Brexit referendum and another vote on Scottish independence, Mr Johnson said: “I don’t want to waste 2020 in two more referendums. I want it to be an exciting and productive year, a year of prosperity and growth.

“Do you want to wake up on Friday the 13th of December to a nightmare on Downing Street? A Corbyn-Sturgeon coalition of chaos? I say let’s go carbon-neutral by 2050 and Corbyn-neutral by Christmas.”

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