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Boris Johnson tried to start 2021 today in an optimistic mood, insisting that it may be ‘a year of change and hope’ after the horror show that was 2020.
The prime minister used a newspaper column to offer hope that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic has been left behind in Britain thanks to the arrival of new vaccines being rolled out by the NHS.
And he said that Brexit, which finally happened at 11 p.m. last night, also meant that good times could be on the horizon.
He even claimed that leaving the EU more than four years after the referendum meant “the end of the bitter disputes over” Europe “” that have plagued our politics for so long. “
But he softened his natural optimism with a warning that the nation was still facing difficult times before things began to look up, saying: “We must face the reality of the challenge ahead.”
He said: ‘With a big Brexit deal, and with a cheap and effective vaccine made in the UK, we are creating the potential springboard for the national rebound.
‘The time has not yet come; And I can’t stress too much that the next few weeks and months will still require courage, patience, and discipline.
But with each blow that reaches the arms of the elderly and vulnerable, we are changing the odds: against Covid and in favor of the human race. In the distance and in the dark we can see the brightly lit pub sign of our destiny: the normal, friendly life that we have been forced to leave behind and that is so vital to our economy.
“We are not there yet, but we are not far; And most importantly, we can see more and more clearly how we are going to get there. ‘
The prime minister used a newspaper column to offer hope that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic has been left behind in Britain thanks to the arrival of new vaccines being rolled out by the NHS.
Britain saw the New Year last night with warnings that Covid restrictions could last into the summer, and the suggestion that some schools may need to stay closed until February to help control a new, more infectious strain of the virus.
Britain saw the New Year last night with warnings that Covid restrictions could last into the summer, and the suggestion that some schools may need to stay closed until February to help control a new, more infectious strain of the virus.
Writing in the Telegraph, Johnson said: ‘We must face the reality of the challenge that lies before us: the bitter economic consequences of being forced to fight Covid with lockdowns.
“We know that many people have lost, and will continue to lose, their jobs, through no fault of their own. We will continue our efforts to help businesses and protect jobs and livelihoods. But we also know that there is no country on Earth that is so fertile in creating new jobs, evoking new ideas and new industries where they did not exist before.
Addressing Brexit, which happened last night at 11 p.m., he added: “ You couldn’t have your cake and eat it, they told us. Perhaps it would be excessively provocative to say that it is a tart treatise; but it’s certainly from the pastry department. I think it is a great victory for both sides of the Canal.
‘For us, it means the end of the bitter disputes over’ ‘Europe’ ‘that have plagued our politics for so long.
“It means an end to that uncomfortable feeling that we were constantly being asked to subscribe to the details of a project, a gigantic federal merger of states, that we really didn’t believe in and hadn’t really negotiated.”
Turning to the coronavirus, he added: “ In the final days of 2020, a beacon of hope has been lit in the Oxford laboratories, with the invention of a new vaccine against Covid, a vaccine that can be produced cheaply and on a large scale. and that it can be distributed at room temperature and, therefore, can benefit billions of people around the world.
‘In the genesis of that vaccine, there is a lesson for this country and our way forward, because it is a brilliant collaboration: between state activism and free market capitalism.
“That vaccine would not exist without government intervention; in fact, it was thanks to government scientists that Oxford partnered with the British company AstraZeneca (linear descendant of Brunner Mond and ICI) and not with a rival American company. It was thanks to government cash that the vaccine was developed.
“But it was thanks to commercial knowledge and drive from AstraZeneca that we have a UK-made vaccine that is good to go into people’s arms less than a year after the pandemic started.”
Johnson faced an immediate challenge to his Brexit hopes from Scotland.
SNP Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon last night urged the European Union to “keep the light on” and said Scotland would “be back soon” when the Brexit transition period came to an end on Thursday.
Membership in the single market and the customs union expired at 11 p.m., four and a half years after the in-out referendum that tried to solve the problem but sparked political turmoil.
The bells of Big Ben rang as the UK left the EU single market and the customs union.
The chimes of Big Ben sounded at 11 p.m., midnight on the continent, marking the UK’s exit from the single market and the EU customs union.
Scottish Prime Minister Ms Sturgeon, who is strongly opposed to Brexit, wrote on Twitter: ‘Scotland will be back soon, Europe. Keep the light on.
