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Boris Johnson has claimed that Brexit has given the UK the freedom to do things like develop COVID vaccines better than the European Union countries.
In an upbeat New Years video message, the prime minister stated that the advance of the Oxford vaccine and the end of the Brexit stalemate have given him confidence for the year ahead.
“This is an incredible moment for this country,” he said in a five-minute video recorded at 10 Downing Street. “We have our freedom in our hands and it is up to us to make the most of it.”
But despite his confidence, the prime minister warned of a “tough fight” against COVID-19 in 2021 before “eventually” returning to a normal life of pubs and restaurants and holding hands with loved ones.
Johnson said: “In 2020 we have seen British scientists not only produce the world’s first effective treatment for the disease, but a beacon of hope has been lit in the Oxford laboratories in recent days.
“A new room temperature vaccine It can be produced cheaply and at scale, and it literally offers a new lease of life to people in this country and around the world.
“And with each blow to the arm of each elderly or vulnerable person, we are changing the odds, in favor of humanity and against COVID.
Prime Minister says UK is now ‘free to push forward our ambition to be a scientific superpower’
“And we know that we have a tough fight ahead of us for weeks and months, because we are facing a new variant of the disease that requires new surveillance.”
Linking optimism about COVID vaccines to Brexit, Johnson said: “But as the sun rises tomorrow in 2021, we are certain of those vaccines.
“He pioneered a UK that is also free to do things differently, and if necessary better, than our friends in the EU.
“Free to make trade deals around the world. And free to further our ambition to be a scientific superpower.
“From biosciences to artificial intelligence, and with our world-leading wind and battery technology, we will work with partners around the world.
“Not just to address climate change, but to create the millions of high-skilled jobs this country will need not just this year, 2021, as we recover from COVID, but for years to come.”
But 2021 would be, above all, the year that the British people “would eventually do those everyday things that now seem lost in the past,” Johnson predicted.
“Bathed in a rosy glow of nostalgia, going to the pub, concerts, theaters, restaurants, or just holding hands with our loved ones in the usual way,” he said.
However, the prime minister warned: “We are still a long way from that, difficult weeks and months ahead.
“But we can see that luminous sign that marks the end of the journey, and more importantly, we can see with increasing clarity how we are going to get there.
“And that’s what gives me so much confidence about 2021.”
The prime minister lamented a year in which people were told how to live their life and how long to wash their hands
Lamenting a difficult 2020, Johnson said: “The year the government was forced to tell people how to live their lives, how long to wash their hands, how many households could come together.
“And a year in which we lost too many loved ones prematurely. So I can imagine that there will be many people who will be happy to say goodbye to the sadness of 2020.
“But just before doing so, I want to remind you that this was also the year that we rediscovered a spirit of unity, of community.
“It was a year where we hit pans to celebrate the courage and self-sacrifice of our NHS staff and nursing home workers.
“A year in which workers did everything they could to keep the country moving in the biggest crisis we have faced for generations: store workers, transportation personnel, pharmacists, emergency services, everyone, whatever.
“We saw a renewed spirit of volunteerism as people delivered food to the elderly and vulnerable.
“And again and again, as it became necessary to fight the new waves of the virus, we saw people coming together in their determination, our determination, to protect the NHS and save lives.
“Put their lives, their lives, on hold. Buy precious time for medicine to provide the answers, and it has.”
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The UK’s best years are yet to come
In his previously published New Years message, Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer also said there was reason to be optimistic in early 2021.
“Optimistic about the distribution of the vaccine, optimistic that we will embrace our loved ones again and have our freedom, that our economy can start to grow, companies can start trading, and we can focus on the task at hand of rebuilding. our country, “he said. said.
“But until then, it is all our duty to be safe, to take care of our neighbors, to maintain the national effort that has brought us here.
“Because when this crisis is over, and over, we will rebuild our country, together.
“This should be inspired by the bravery and heroism of those who have been on the front lines since the beginning of the pandemic.
“Our key workers, our caretakers, NHS workers, police officers, those who kept the streets safe and our supermarkets stocked at the height of the crisis.”
On Brexit, Sir Keir said: “The UK is forging a new path in the world.
“And the Labor Party that I lead will focus on ensuring that that path leads to greater prosperity, equity and opportunity for every nation and region, every town, every town and city that makes up our great Britain.
“I think this can once again be the best country to grow up and the best country to grow old. And with that hope and that vision, I think our best years are yet to come.”
