BORIS Johnson has urged voters to make Britain “Corbyn neutral by Christmas” as he promoted what he described as a sensible, moderate, tax-cutting One Nation Government that would take Britain forward.
In an address in Telford that lasted just 14 minutes, the Prime Minister repeatedly mocked the Labour leader over his commitment to take a “neutral stance” on Brexit and act as an “honest broker”.
Mr Johnson insisted the Tory mix of infrastructure investment, including a plan to recruit 50,000 more nurses and 20,000 more police officers south of the border, as well as tax cuts would enable a future Conservative Government to “forge a new Britain”.
With the polls showing the Tories are maintaining a healthy lead over Labour, the manifesto came across as low-key; sources suggested it had been decided to hold it on a Sunday to get positive coverage in the weekend newspapers and to be covered on the BBC’s Sunday 10pm news; the most watched of all the corporations’ bulletins.
However, it was the derisory tone adopted by Mr Johnson towards Mr Corbyn’s position on Brexit that caught the audience’s imagination at the Shropshire venue, bringing him his loudest cheers.
One joke delivered at the Labour leader’s expense was when the PM said: "Jeremy Corbyn won't tell us whether he would even be willing to advise people to vote in favour of his own deal. He used to be indecisive; now, he's not so sure."
In another, Mr Johnson asked his audience of Cabinet ministers, party aides and journalists: “Can you imagine the negotiations that would take place if the Corbyn-Sturgeon coalition were to come in?
"What on earth are they supposed to think in Brussels? Bonjour Monsieur Corbyn,” Mr Johnson said, adopting a French accent. “Tell us about this deal that you want.
"What do you mean you don't really want it? What do you mean you don't really believe in it, you're not going to advocate it?”
To laughter, he noted: "Then who does believe in it? Not Monsieur McDonnell, not Monsieur Starmer, not Madame Abbott. Then who does believe in it? Who! It's farcical."
In his speech, Mr Johnson pledged to "get Brexit done" and re-unite the country with his One Nation Conservative approach, pledging a programme of investment for the NHS and the police while introducing a "triple lock" on tax with no increases in income tax, VAT or National Insurance Contributions.
He sought to characterise the election contest as a battle between "retrograde destructive socialism" and "sensible One Nation Conservatism".
He went on: "In this manifesto there is a vision for the future in which we unite our country. It is time to unleash the potential of our country and forge a new Britain."
A noticeable omission from the manifesto was a tax cut for middle income earners, promised by Mr Johnson in the Tory leadership contest, which would have involved raising the higher income tax threshold from £50,000 to £80,000.
But the Tory leader insisted he had “not lost any of my tax-cutting zeal,” pointing to the effective cut in National Insurance Contributions. Yet he said, at this particular juncture, it was important to “focus tax cuts on people who need them most” ie those on lower incomes.
The manifesto includes:
*a "triple tax lock" with no increases in income tax, national insurance and VAT for five years;
*an additional 20,000 police officers and 50,000 extra nurses south of the border with the return of nurse bursaries;
*£1 billion of additional funding for social care in every year of the next Parliament;
*a new deal for towns, cutting taxes for small high street retailers and installing more CCTV;
*an Australian-style points-based system to control immigration after Britain has left the EU and
*a pledge to make the UK carbon neutral by 2050.
Once again, Mr Johnson warned the country of the “coalition of chaos” involving Labour and the SNP that would occur if Mr Corbyn was able to form a minority government.
But he insisted things would be very different under a Tory majority administration, saying: “In 10 years’ time I confidently prophesy that people will be passionately proud of their Scottish identity and their Welsh and their Northern Irish and, yes, their English identity.”
“And, to applause, he went on, “that will be a great thing; that we will also be citizens of a proud, strong and whole United Kingdom. More united than ever. Flying that red, white and blue Union flag that represents the best of our values from democracy, the rule of law, from free trade to free speech, freedom to love whoever you choose, from championing 12 years of free education for every girl in the world to protecting the planet’s wildlife from the tragedy of habitat loss and extinction.
“A Britain that is able to lead the world, as we do, on tackling climate change and reducing to net zero by 2050, not because we hate capitalism and want to destroy and want to pointlessly make an enemy of enterprise but because the private sector makes the brilliant technical breakthroughs that enable us to cut CO2 and pay for great public services and create great high-skilled jobs.
“That is the vision we are offering; to make this country in which to live, to breathe, to be, to raise kids, to start a business, the greatest place on earth.”
The Tory leader again warned of a “nightmare on Downing St,” which he described as a “Corbyn-Sturgeon coalition of chaos”.
He added to laughter, applause and cheers: “I say let’s ho carbon neutral by 2050 and Corbyn neutral by Christmas.”
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