Boris Johnson defined his “levelling-up” agenda in his speech to the Tory Party conference today, arguing that by boosting “left behind” parts of the country it will ease pressure on the “overheating” south-east of England.
Mr Johnson also defended his restrictions on foreign workers amid a backdrop of a supply chain crisis and a labour shortage that has seen military drivers drafted in to deliver petrol as well as warnings of empty shelves in shops at Christmas and pigs culled due to a lack of abattoir staff.
He told the party faithful in Manchester that the Government is “embarking now on the change of direction that has been long overdue in the UK economy”.
“The answer is to control immigration, to allow people of talent to come to this country but not to use immigration as an excuse for failure to invest in people, in skills and in the equipment or machinery they need to do their jobs,” he said.
Instead, he promised “the greatest project that any government can embark on” by “uniting and levelling up across the UK”.
