Tory Conference: Boris pledges “Big, Bold decisions”

Boris Johnson has pledged the Conservatives will “change and improve” the economy after the pandemic, as the party opens its annual conference in Manchester.

Boris Johnson said the country cannot “go back to how things were” before Covid and accused the haulage industry of being too reliant on low-paid immigration, and shortages at petrol station, as the military is due to begin delivering petrol across the UK from Monday.

Two hundred servicemen and woman, including  100 drivers  will provide “temporary” support to ease pressure on forecourts. The government has also announced 5, 000 temporary visas for foreign lorry drivers to plug a shortage of lorry drivers worsened by Covid, Brexit and other factors.

About 10, 000 delegates are expected in Manchester for the party’s first in-person conference since Covid and the first since its 2019 election victory.

The party has promised £22m extra funding for councils to renovate tennis courts and £30m for schools in England to repair sports facilities, which the party believes will help equalise access to sport in poorer regions with unplayable courts.

Boris Johnson has both a substantial Commons majority and leads a party that most recent opinion polls suggest is more popular than Labour.

Prices are rising just as both the furlough scheme and the uplift to Universal Credit end and an increase to National Insurance is around the corner.

Sir Ian Duncan Smith, have joined opposition MPs in warning about a squeeze on living standard for all the poorest households.