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Boris Johnson’s £5bn plan for UK’s post-coronavirus recovery revealed
He’s set to outline his plan.
The Prime Minister is planning on pledging £5 billion in a bid to create jobs, skills and infrastructure for the UK post-coronavirus.
Tonight, Mr Johnson is expected to deliver a speech in the West Midlands where he will outline the government’s post-covid ‘build build build’ plan.
Part of the plan sees a £5bn ‘New Deal’ pledge, which promises to deliver jobs, skills and infrastructure to the UK.
The UK has been the hardest hit of the G7 major industrialised nations by the virus, with the economy shrinking by 20.4% in April.
It is expected there will be £1.5bn set aside for hospital maintenance, eradicating mental health dormitories, enabling hospital building, and improving A&E capacity.
According to the BBC, Boris Johnson is set to use the coronavirus ‘crisis to tackle the country’s great unresolved challenges of the last three decades’.
The PM added: ‘To build the homes, to fix the NHS, to tackle the skills crisis, to mend the indefensible gap in opportunity and productivity and connectivity between the regions of the UK.
“Too many parts of this country have felt left behind, neglected, unloved, as though someone had taken a strategic decision that their fate did not matter as much as the metropolis.
“And so I want you to know that this government not only has a vision to change this country for the better, we have a mission to unite and level up.”
Some of the projects expected to be outlined include:
- £560m and £200m for repairs and upgrades to schools and colleges
- £1bn will be set aside for funding of ten-year school rebuilding that will start 2020-21 with work beginning September 2021
- 101 selected towns will be given deals of between £500k and £1m to spend on projects such as park, high street and transport improvements
- £142m will be spent on upgrading around 100 courts and £83m will be set aside for prison maintenance and youth offender facilities.
- £900m for ‘shovel ready’ local growth projects and £96m investments in town centres and high streets
In terms of investment in the environment, Boris Johnson has called for a ‘build back greener’ approach, however, environmentalists have considered the response of his pre-released summary as inadequate.
Boris claims he will plant 75,000 acres of trees every single year by 2025.
Furthermore, he is expected to promise £40m to boost local conservation projects which in turn will create 3,000 jobs such as Conservation Rangers and safeguard a further 2,000.
According to reports, Boris is expected to say: “Too many parts of this country have felt left behind, neglected, unloved, as though someone had taken a strategic decision that their fate did not matter as much as the metropolis.
“And so I want you to know that this government not only has a vision to change this country for the better, we have a mission to unite and level up- the mission on which we were elected last year.”
Director of Northern Powerhouse Partnership, Henri Murison, said: “The Prime Minister in his speech tomorrow will join those of us including his Chancellor, our Metro Mayors and Northern business leaders who believe it is vital to put front and centre the work to level up and unite the country in the recovery.
“The scale of ambition of this ‘Roosevelt’s New Deal’ cannot merely be rhetoric, but must also be met by the full commitment of necessary public and private resources.
“The £10m towards completing the Northern Hub in Manchester will help curtail delays for trains crossing West to East as far as Newcastle and Hull.
“But there is a need to accelerate projects like the TransPennine Route Upgrade electrification and start building HS2 from Leeds to the Midlands, including related upgrades and the new Northern Powerhouse Rail line through Bradford.
“£900m for shovel-ready projects is not enough for the number of jobs which could be generated by accelerating delivery in our cities and wider regions across the North alone, which is why releasing local investment capacity of up to £5bn at the local level is so necessary.
“History teaches us that the New Deal only worked because the scale of its aspiration was met by spending on the ground to match.
“If this is a start in that direction and not the limit of what is to be built then it is to be welcomed.
“Otherwise, the Deal will not meet the promises made of closing the North-South divide made previously by the Prime Minister when he first took up his office.”
Boris Johnson is expected to make the speech today, June 30th.
Happy Valley star Sarah Lancashire won the Rose d‘Or Award for her portrayal of Catherine Cawood in the BBC drama.
The Rose d’Or Awards is a prestigious ceremony celebrating international excellence in entertainment programming. The 62nd event was held in London and hosted by comedian and writer David Baddiel.
Collecting her performance of the year award, Lancashire said: “This is thrilling, [I want to] thank those who are responsible for bringing this amazing series to screen.”
Happy Valley is an award-winning British crime drama set in the Calder Valley area of West Yorkshire, written by Sally Wainwright.
The series, which aired on BBC One, follows Lancashire in the role of no-nonsense copper Sergeant Catherine Cawood who comes up against James Norton’s character; evil criminal Tommy Lee Royce – who Sergeant Cawood holds responsible for her daughter’s suicide.
The gripping series concluded earlier this year and has been receiving a raft of nods for performances, as well as for the show itself, ever since.
The BBC also scooped best documentary for The Man Who Played With Fire while ITV’s The 1% Club, hosted by comedian Lee Mack, picked up the award for studio entertainment.
British series A Whole Lifetime With Jamie Demetriou also took home the best comedy entertainment award on the night.
In his acceptance speech, Demetriou said: “What a lovely looking award this is. It needs to be said, David’s opening monologue is honestly one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard.”
Lancashire, Dayan and Edebiri join previous recipients of Rose d’Or special awards, including Sir David Attenborough, Brian Cox, Ricky Gervais, Joanna Lumley, James Corden, John Cleese and the late Dame Angela Lansbury.
The Rose d’Or Awards has defined the gold standard for excellence and achievement in International TV and Audio programme making since 1961.
News
Mum opens accessible chippy so autistic son ‘has a job for life’
She opened the chippy after a stranger made a comment about her son online
A mum from Lancashire has opened up a chippy so that her autistic son ‘has a job for life’, after a stranger’s comment online.
Gillian Jervis opened Oliver’s Chippy in Warton, near Blackpool, after a stranger’s comments on a forum online – calling her son Oliver ‘a burden on the state’ – prompted her to prove them wrong.
About the comment, Gillian told ITV News: “I sometimes think I dreamt the comment and that I made it all up, because why would you say something like that?
“Have I read it wrong? I went through all of those emotions – it knocked me sideways.”
The mum-of-four decided to start a business in her son’s name and opened Oliver’s Chippy in 2021 – where Gillian is already training the 12-year-old so that he can take over when he grows up.
On why she chose to open a chip shop business for Oliver she said: “It gives him his structure, it’s a bit like school; his daily routine that he has to have.
“What you end up doing everyday – prepping the food, serving the food, making up the food, stocking the fridges… he’ll learn all that before he starts at sixteen.”
Oliver’s autism means he has some communication difficulties though he is able to express himself in other ways.
The chippy is built with facilities to help people with communication and accessibility issues by using visual screens on the tills instead of words and phrases.
As Gillian explains: “You’ve got people with a stutter, so I’ve looked at it this way. Before people start to speak, they look at pictures don’t they?
“It’s better to see a picture of what you want, it gives you the confidence to come into my shop and order what you want without saying it.”
Not only do these images help Oliver, they also help customers who may communicate better with visual aids. Not only this, the chippy also offers services to help make it easier for all neurodivergent people to place their orders.
Gillian said: “We do have a disability point access, we do have a ramp, we do have a visual menu.
“If you came in and you want your order all separate and you said ‘jigsaw’ we know that it means everything’s separate.” The chippy can make sure different food isn’t touching others by offering cartons with separated sections.
Since opening, the chip shop has fed more than 1,300 children and supported other families across the Fylde Coast. This includes giving away a family holiday, an iPad, air fryer and over 100 competition meals.
She continued: “We had the cost of living crisis, fuel shortages, the after effects of Covid and people not working as they were, with people losing their jobs due to Covid as well.
“So I just said to Arran, ‘shall we feed the kids for free?’ He said ‘yes – but how are we going to do it?’ I said ‘I don’t know, but we’ll find a way of doing it’.”
Opening in 2021 during the pandemic, the first Easter holidays saw the chip shop take a financial hit as it gave out free meals for children in the area.
But during the summer holidays later that same year, the business was supported by Bryning with Warton Parish Council as a Go Fund Me was started to raise the funds.
An 82-year-old woman has sadly died after being hit by a vehicle on a main road in Tameside yesterday.
The elderly woman was critically injured in the collision which happened on Manchester Road, in Audenshaw, at around 5.55pm on Monday, November 20th.
Emergency services rushed to the scene, close to the Snipe Retail Park, and an ambulance took her to hospital.
The driver of the vehicle, a 31-year-old woman, remained at the scene and has continued to assist police with enquiries.
Greater Manchester Police have confirmed the woman has now died from her injuries and are appealing for witnesses of the collision to come forward to help them with their investigations.
Confirming the tragic update in a statement, the force said: “At around 5.55pm on Monday November 20th, Greater Manchester Police were called to reports of a road traffic collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian on Manchester Road, Audenshaw.
“An 82-year-old woman who was taken to hospital in a serious condition has since sadly died from her injuries.
“The driver of the vehicle, a 31-year-old woman, remained at the scene and is continuing to assist police with enquiries.
“Police would like to speak to anyone who may have witnessed the collision – and are continuing to appeal for anyone with relevant mobile, dashcam or CCTV footage to please come forward.”
Members of the public can submit information and footage by calling 0161 856 4741 quoting log 2797 of 20/11/23. You can also report information online using the LiveChat function on the website: www.gmp.police.uk.
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Mum opens accessible chippy so autistic son ‘has a job for life’
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