Tag: Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson – 2022 Speech on Ukraine

The speech made by Boris Johnson, the former Prime Minister, in the House of Commons on 22 September 2022.

It is now seven months since Vladimir Putin launched his vile, illegal and unprovoked war against an innocent European country. In those seven months, his actions have cost almost as many Russian casualties as were sustained in the whole 10-year Russian invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. If he continues at this rate, it will not be that long before Russian losses in Ukraine exceed American losses in the 20-year Vietnam conflict. And that is before we have counted the Ukrainian losses in the past seven months and the catastrophic suffering that Putin has inflicted on those people: the torture, systematic rape, mass murder and deliberate targeting time after time of apartment blocks, schools, kindergartens and hospitals.

In all those seven months of horror that this modern Moloch has personally unleashed, he has not attained a single one of his objectives in a war that, let us not forget, was meant to be over in days. He has not overturned the Ukrainian Government or captured the capital city. He has not even secured the Donbas—far from it. Instead of coming to terms with the reality of his mistake—I mean his complete misunderstanding of what Ukraine is and what really motivates Ukrainians, which is a simple love of their country—he has decided to double down on disaster. He announced the mobilisation of 300,000 more young Russians, a move that has caused such panic among people about to be fed into the meat grinder of Putin’s warzone that yesterday, in a single day, the price of a one-way air ticket from Moscow to South Africa went up to $50,000.

Those potential conscripts can see that what began as a war to rebuild the Soviet empire has collapsed into a shameful war to save Putin’s face. They have no desire to be sacrificed on the altar of his ego. At the same time, as Members from both Front Benches have pointed out, he is threatening to hold sham referendums in the territories he has occupied and then to defend those territories with every weapon, as he says, in his arsenal, in words that he hopes will make our flesh creep and weaken our resolve. He will fail in that pitiful bluster, because he can see and we can see that he is escalating his rhetoric not because he is strong, as has been said, but because he is weak. He is transparently a problem gambler who takes more risks not because he is winning but because he is now terrified of losing.

Chris Bryant

Putin did exactly the same, of course, in 2014. He held a fake referendum in Crimea and, unfortunately, the will of the west weakened. How do we make sure that people such as Orbán in Hungary and those who are preaching disinformation in Italy do not win the day and that we maintain the united strength of the west?

Boris Johnson

I thank the hon. Gentleman very much for his point and I will come directly to what happened in 2014 in just a minute. He should not underestimate the continued unity of the west. That is one of the signal achievements of Vladimir Putin in the past seven months: he has seen a more coherent and unified western alliance, and a stronger NATO perhaps, than at any time in the last 20 years.

Dr Luke Evans

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

Boris Johnson

If I may, I will just make some progress, Madam Deputy Speaker, as you wanted me to keep within 10 minutes. I will do my best.

Thanks to the heroism of the Ukrainian armed forces, thanks in part to the weapons we are proud to be offering —I congratulate the Minister for the Armed Forces and Veterans, my right hon. Friend the Member for Wells (James Heappey) on his description of the work of the UK armed forces and the huge list of weapons we are sending—and thanks, too, to the inspirational leadership of Volodymyr Zelensky, the Russian forces have, in recent days, been expelled from large parts of the north-east of the country around Kharkiv. They are under increasing pressure in Kherson in the south. I have no doubt whatever that the Ukrainians will win, because in the end they have the inestimable moral and psychological advantage of fighting for their country in their country against an enemy that is increasingly demoralised and confused about what they are meant to be doing in that country and what they can hope to achieve.

At this turning point in the war, it is more vital than ever that we have the strategic patience to hold our nerve and ensure that Ukrainians succeed in recapturing their territory right to the borders of 24 February and, if possible, to the pre-2014 boundaries, because that is what international law demands. The hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) is correct: it was our collective failure to insist on upholding international law eight years ago that emboldened Putin to launch his disastrous invasion this year.

If Putin is going to double down on his aggression, we must double down in our defence of the Ukrainians, and we must be prepared to give more military assistance and more economic support, so I welcome warmly the announcements from the Government this week. We must work with our friends and partners, as well as the Ukrainians, to ensure that we provide that country with the long-term assurance they need on their security and defence that we have failed so far to provide in the 31 years since independence.

If anyone has proved the absolute necessity of those guarantees, it is Vladimir Putin and his war. We must close our ears in the months ahead to the absolute rubbish he talks. This is not some nuclear stand-off between NATO and Russia, as he seemed to pretend yesterday; this is a war of aggression by Russia against an innocent neighbour. We are helping with equipment and training, as we might help a neighbour to fight a fire when their house has been attacked by an arsonist. NATO is not engaged in a war against Russia. We are not engaged in a war against Russia, let alone against the Russian people.

By the way, we are not concerned here with regime change in Moscow, as Vladimir Putin egocentrically likes to claim. Whatever politics may hold for Putin may be the subject of an interesting debate, but that is not the issue at stake. There is only one objective: the sovereignty, independence and freedom of the people of Ukraine. That is our objective and we must acknowledge that the months ahead will be tough for Ukraine, Britain and the world.

For all the latest Ukrainian successes, Putin is still the possessor of almost 20% of Ukrainian territory and it may well be time-consuming and costly to winkle him out. I have no doubt that in the hard winter months ahead, with the price of energy continuing to inflict hardship on people in this country and around the world, there will continue to be some who draw the false conclusion that the Ukrainians must be encouraged to do a deal, to trade land for peace, to allow Russian gas to flow to Europe. Even if it were politically possible for Volodymyr Zelensky or any Ukrainian Government to do such a deal—which I very much doubt—there is absolutely no sign that Putin either wants such a compromise or can be trusted to deliver it, because he would continue to remain in position and could invade that country in the future.

As I have told the House many times before, any such deal or compromise would send a signal around the world that violence does pay off, that might is right and that when the going gets tough, the great democracies will not have the stomach to stick up for freedom. That is why we have absolutely no choice but to stay the course and to stay resolute. We should be confident because, with every week that goes by, our position gets stronger and Putin’s position gets weaker.

Although times are tough for families now, we should be in no doubt that this country has the economic muscle not just to help people with the costs of energy caused by Putin’s war, but to provide the long-term resilience of a secure and independent UK supply—including more nuclear, much more wind in the transitional period and more of our own hydrocarbons—to ensure that we are never again vulnerable to Putin’s energy blackmail.

It is a measure of Vladimir Putin’s giant strategic failure that he has not only united the west against him—the strength of that unity is remarkable, and by the way he has encouraged two hitherto neutral countries, Sweden and Finland, to join the NATO alliance, which would have been unthinkable a year ago—but decisively alienated his most valuable western customers from his most important Russian exports, oil and gas, with incalculable consequences for his people’s economic future.

Stephen Kinnock (Aberavon) (Lab)

Further to the right hon. Gentleman’s point about economic resilience, does he think that enough was done during his time as Mayor of London, and indeed during his time in this place, to deal with the issue that London has become a laundromat for dirty Russian money? Does he think that there are lessons to be learned from that period that he can share with the House?

Boris Johnson

I think the whole House will agree that since the invasion on 24 February the UK has led the world in imposing sanctions on Russia and in mobilising diplomatic, political and military support for the Ukrainians. I think that most impartial observers around the world—and I meet a lot of them—believe that if it had not been for the actions of the UK Government, things might have been different. I am delighted to see this Administration continuing with the commitments that we began; the financial commitments in particular are extremely important.

Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

Boris Johnson

I am just about to conclude.

If it were not for Putin’s inability to see what is really happening—if he were not locked, as it were, in a windowless dungeon surrounded by bodyguards, spies and sycophants in a sort of Lubyanka of the mind—he would see the tragedy that he has unleashed. He would withdraw from Ukraine before he is pushed out—and he is going to be pushed out.

In the past seven months, the sufferings of Ukraine have moved the world; I know that they have moved everybody in this House and in this country. We grieve for the people of Ukraine, and we open our hearts to them as few other countries have done. We know that, thanks to their bravery and sacrifice, their day of freedom is coming. When that day comes, we will rejoice with Ukraine, and that rejoicing will echo around the world. Until that day comes, I am sure that this House and this country will stand in unshakeable support for the people of Ukraine.

September 23, 2022
Boris Johnson – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Boris Johnson, the former Prime Minister, in the House of Commons on 9 September 2022.

I hope the House will not mind if I begin with a personal confession. A few months ago, the BBC came to see me to talk about Her Majesty the Queen. We sat down and the cameras started rolling, and they requested that I should talk about her in the past tense. I am afraid that I simply choked up and could not go on. I am really not easily moved to tears, but I was so overcome with sadness that I had to ask them to go away.

I know that, today, there are countless people in this country and around the world who have experienced the same sudden access of unexpected emotion, and I think millions of us are trying to understand why we are feeling this deep, personal and almost familial sense of loss. Perhaps it is partly that she has always been there: a changeless human reference point in British life; the person who—all the surveys say—appears most often in our dreams; so unvarying in her pole-star radiance that we have perhaps been lulled into thinking that she might be in some way eternal.

But I think our shock is keener today because we are coming to understand, in her death, the full magnitude of what she did for us all. Think what we asked of that 25-year-old woman all those years ago: to be the person so globally trusted that her image should be on every unit of our currency, every postage stamp; the person in whose name all justice is dispensed in this country, every law passed, to whom every Minister of the Crown swears allegiance; and for whom every member of our armed services is pledged, if necessary, to lay down their lives.

Think what we asked of her in that moment: not just to be the living embodiment, in her DNA, of the history, continuity and unity of this country, but to be the figurehead of our entire system—the keystone in the vast arch of the British state, a role that only she could fulfil because, in the brilliant and durable bargain of the constitutional monarchy, only she could be trusted to be above any party political or commercial interest and to incarnate, impartially, the very concept and essence of the nation.

Think what we asked of her, and think what she gave. She showed the world not just how to reign over a people; she showed the world how to give, how to love and how to serve. As we look back at that vast arc of service, its sheer duration is almost impossible to take in. She was the last living person in British public life to have served in uniform in the second world war. She was the first female member of the royal family in a thousand years to serve full time in the armed forces.

That impulse to do her duty carried her right through into her 10th decade to the very moment in Balmoral—as my right hon. Friend said—only three days ago, when she saw off her 14th Prime Minister and welcomed her 15th. I can tell you, in that audience she was as radiant and as knowledgeable and as fascinated by politics as ever I can remember, and as wise in her advice as anyone I know, if not wiser. Over that extraordinary span of public service, with her naturally retentive and inquiring mind, I think—and doubtless many of the 15 would agree—that she became the greatest statesman and diplomat of all.

She knew instinctively how to cheer up the nation, how to lead a celebration. I remember her innocent joy more than 10 years ago, after the opening ceremony of the London Olympics, when I told her that the leader of a friendly middle eastern country seemed actually to believe that she had jumped out of a helicopter in a pink dress and parachuted into the stadium. [Laughter.] I remember her equal pleasure on being told, just a few weeks ago, that she had been a smash hit in her performance with Paddington Bear.

Perhaps more importantly, she knew how to keep us going when times were toughest. In 1940, when this country and this democracy faced the real possibility of extinction, she gave a broadcast, aged only 14, that was intended to reassure the children of Britain. She said then:

“We know, every one of us, that in the end all will be well”.

She was right. And she was right again in the darkest days of the covid pandemic when she came on our screens and told us that we would meet again—and we did.

I know I speak for other ex-Prime Ministers when I say that she helped to comfort and guide us as well as the nation. She had the patience and the sense of history to see that troubles come and go, and that disasters are seldom as bad as they seem. It was that indomitability, that humour, that work ethic and that sense of history that, together, made her Elizabeth the Great.

When I call her that, I should add one final quality, of course: her humility—her single-bar-electric-fire, Tupperware-using refusal to be grand. I can tell the House, as a direct eyewitness, that unlike us politicians, with our outriders and our armour-plated convoys, she drove herself in her own car, with no detectives and no bodyguard, bouncing at alarming speed over the Scottish landscape, to the total amazement of the ramblers and tourists we encountered.

It is that indomitable spirit with which she created the modern constitutional monarchy—an institution so strong, so happy and so well understood, not just in this country but in the Commonwealth and around the world, that the succession has already seamlessly taken place. I believe she would regard it as her own highest achievement that her son, Charles III, will clearly and amply follow her own extraordinary standards of duty and service. The fact that today we can say with such confidence, “God save the King” is a tribute to him but, above all, to Elizabeth the Great, who worked so hard for the good of her country not just now but for generations to come. That is why we mourn her so deeply, and it is in the depths of our grief that we understand why we loved her so much.

September 9, 2022
Boris Johnson – 2022 Final Speech as Prime Minister

The speech made by Boris Johnson, the outgoing Prime Minister, on 6 September 2022.

Well this is it folks

thanks to all of you for coming out so early this morning

In only a couple of hours from now I will be in Balmoral to see Her Majesty The Queen

and the torch will finally be passed to a new Conservative leader

the baton will be handed over in what has unexpectedly turned out to be a relay race

they changed the rules half-way through but never mind that now

and through that lacquered black door a new Prime Minister will shortly go to meet a fantastic group of public servants

the people who got Brexit done

the people who delivered the fastest vaccine roll out in Europe

and never forget – 70 per cent of the entire population got a dose within 6 months, faster than any comparable country

that is government for you – that’s this conservative government

the people who organised those prompt early supplies of weapons to the heroic Ukrainian armed forces,

an action that may very well have helped change the course of the biggest European war for 80 years

And because of the speed and urgency of what you did – everybody involved in this government

to get this economy moving again from July last year in spite of all opposition, all the naysayers

we have and will continue to have that economic strength

to give people the cash they need to get through this energy crisis that has been caused by Putin’s vicious war

And I know that Liz Truss and this compassionate Conservative government will do everything we can to get people through this crisis

And this country will endure it and we will win

and if Putin thinks that he can succeed by blackmailing or bullying the British people then he is utterly deluded

and the reason we will have those funds now and in the future is because we Conservatives understand the vital symmetry between government action

and free market capitalist private sector enterprise

we are delivering on those huge manifesto commitments

making streets safer – neighbourhood crime down 38 per cent in the last three years

13,790 more police on the streets

building more hospitals – and yes we will have 50,000 more nurses by the end of this parliament and 40 more hospitals by the end of the decade

putting record funding into our schools and into teachers’ pay

giving everyone over 18 a lifetime skills guarantee so they can keep upskilling throughout their lives

3 new high speed rail lines including northern powerhouse rail

colossal road programmes from the Pennines to Cornwall,

the roll-out of gigabit broadband up over the last three years, since you were kind enough to elect me, up from 7 per cent of our country’s premises having gigabit broadband to 70 per cent today.

And we are of course providing the short and the long term solutions for our energy needs

and not just using more of our own domestic hydrocarbons but going up by 2030 to 50 GW of wind power, that is half this country’s energy electricity needs from offshore wind

alone, a new nuclear reactor every year

and looking at what is happening in this country, the changes that are taking place,

that is why the private sector is investing more venture capital investment than China itself

more billion pound tech companies sprouting here than in France, Germany and Israel combined

and as a result unemployment as I leave office, down to lows not seen since I was about ten years old and bouncing around on a space hopper

and on the subject of bouncing around and future careers

let me say that I am now like one of those booster rockets that has fulfilled its function

and I will now be gently re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down invisibly in some remote and obscure corner of the pacific

And like Cincinnatus I am returning to my plough

and I will be offering this government nothing but the most fervent support

this is a tough time for the economy

this is a tough time for families up and down the country

we can and we will get through it and we will come out stronger the other side but I say to my fellow Conservatives it is time for the politics to be over folks

and it’s time for us all to get behind Liz Truss and her programme

and deliver for the people of this country

because that is what the people of this country want, that’s what they need and that’s what they deserve

I am proud to have discharged the promises I made my party when you were kind enough to choose me,

winning the biggest majority since 1987 and the biggest share of the vote since 1979.

delivering Brexit

delivering our manifesto commitments – including social care

helping people up and down the country

ensuring that Britain is once again standing tall in the world

speaking with clarity and authority

from Ukraine to the AUKUS pact with America and Australia

because we are one whole and entire United Kingdom whose diplomats, security services and armed forces are so globally admired

and as I leave I believe our union is so strong that those who want to break it up, will keep trying but they will never ever succeed

thank you to everyone behind me in this building for looking after me and my family over the last three years so well including Dilyn, the dog

and if Dilyn and Larry can put behind them their occasional difficulties, then so can the Conservative party

and above all thanks to you, the British people, to the voters for giving me the chance to serve

all of you who worked so tirelessly together to beat covid to put us where we are today

Together we have laid foundations that will stand the test of time

whether by taking back control of our laws or putting in vital new infrastructure

great solid masonry on which we will continue to build together

paving the path of prosperity now & for future generations

and I will be supporting Liz Truss and our new government every step of the way.

Thank you all very much.

September 6, 2022
Boris Johnson – 2022 Letter to Veterans of the UK’s Nuclear Testing Programme

The letter sent by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 5 September 2022.

(in .pdf format)

September 5, 2022
Boris Johnson – 2022 Speech on Energy

The speech made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 1 September 2022.

Good afternoon everybody

Thank you for coming today, thank you for coming everybody to Sizewell

It’s wonderful to be here and to see this astonishing plant and to meet the staff and some of the young people who are going to be working here, already are working here..

Now, when I was a child, I had a wonderful book – a much thumbed ladybird book called the story of nuclear power,

It was published in 1972

And I used to go through it again and again

and I was enthralled to read how scientists split the atom here in the UK for the first time

and they did it at the Cavendish laboratories in Cambridge

and I noted that the world’s first civilian nuclear reactor, the first civilian nuclear power station was at Calder Hall in Cumbria, now of course Sellafield

and I look back at the optimism in every page of that book and what has happened since
and at the short-termism of successive British governments

at their failure to do justice to our pioneering nuclear history
their abject failure to think of the needs of future generations

above all the families that are today struggling with the cost of energy in this country

I feel like one of those beautifully drawn illustrations of what happens in a nuclear pile when the graphite rods are taken out at the wrong moment

My blood starts to boil and steam comes out of my ears and I think I’m going to melt down

And I asked myself the question: What happened to us?

When Sizewell was opened in 1966 it was the eighth reactor that this country had built in just 7 years

Why have we never got back to that kind of rhythm? Have we lost the gumption and the dynamism of our parents and grandparents

but it gets worse

When Sizewell B -fantastic white dome – was completed in 1995 it was the 5th reactor in 7 years

1995 – an era that was technologically so primitive that people used things called carphones and went down to blockbusters to rent VHS videos

Think of the colossal technical progress in other areas – and contrast the paralysis in nuclear energy

how many new nuclear power stations have we built in the 27 years since?

How many have been connected to the grid?

How many slices of bread could we toast with the additional nuclear power we have created?

how many washing machines could we power?

How many families have been helped with extra nuclear energy?

The answer is, none, zero, zilch

The French, they have loads of nuclear power stations already, they’ve built four more since 1995– bringing their total reactor fleet up to about 56, the Indians have added about 12 and the Chinese have built more than 50 additional nuclear reactions since 1995!

and you know why we have failed? It’s not even as though we have some cultural aversion to nuclear power

I just met those nice protestors outside – it wasn’t some atomkraft nein danke – they seem to be objecting to the disruption to the roads, it’s pure nimbyism out there

I will diagnose the problem

It’s called myopia. It’s called short-termism

It’s a chronic case of politicians not being able to see beyond the political cycle

Tell that to British businesses and industries that are desperately short of affordable and reliable electricity

tell that to the families struggling with the cost of heat and light this winter

It is because of that kind of myopia that here in the country that first split the atom we have only 15 per cent of our electricity from nuclear – and it is falling

whereas in France it is at 70 per cent

and we ask ourselves why France is more self reliant than we are when it comes to energy

why they have found it relatively easier to hold down their costs

and yes nuclear always looks – when you begin, it always looks relatively expensive to build and to run

but look at what is happening today, look at the results of Putin’s war

it is certainly cheap by comparison with hydrocarbons today

in fact if Hinkley Point C were already running already this year

it’s been delayed for ages and ages of course

it would be cutting fuel bills by £3 bn

I’ll say that again – if Hinkley Point C were running now, it would be cutting fuel bills by £3 bn

So you have to look ahead
And you have to beware of the false economy

If you have an old kettle that takes ages to boil, it may cost you £20 to replace it

But if you get a new one you will save ten pounds a year every year on your electricity bill

I remember when the government finally did the deal on Hinkley C– in fact by then I was already sitting in the cabinet

and I remember some people protesting that the strike price of £92.50 per kilowatt hour was very, very expensive

it doesn’t look so expensive today

that is why we must pull our national finger out and get on with Sizewell C

That is why we are putting up to £700 m into the deal

Just part of the £1.7bn of Government funding available for developing a large-scale nuclear project to final investment stage in this Parliament,

and in the course of the next few weeks I am absolutely confident that it will get over the line.

and we will get it over the line because it would be madness not to

This project will create tens of thousands of jobs, but it will also power 6m homes – that is roughly a fifth of all the homes in the UK

So it will help to fix the energy needs not just of this generation but of the next

a baby born this year will be getting energy from Sizewell C long, long after she retires

and this new reactor is just a part of our Great British nuclear campaign

we will build a reactor a year again

we will build them across the country, at least eight of them, large ones and small modular reactors

and of course they are not the entire solution to our energy needs – far from it

yes we are increasing our own domestic hydrocarbons

we’ve got more gas out of the north sea this year than last year, considerably more, 26% more

we are putting a big bet on hydrogen and on carbon capture and storage

and because of the activism of the government we are now racing to our target – and we will hit it – of 50 GW of offshore wind by 2030

this is a huge amount, it’s probably half the electricity needs of the country from offshore wind

I’ll tell everybody who thinks hydrocarbons are the only answer and we should get fracking and all that

that offshore wind is now the cheapest form of electricity in this country
offshore wind is nine times cheaper than gas because of the insanity of what Putin has done

and that’s why it makes sense for us to become more self-reliant

and of course it is entirely clean and green

so renewables are not only helping us to defeat climate change

they are also helping to keep bills lower than they would otherwise be in this crisis

what Putin has done is to launch a kind of kamikaze attack on the world economy

He doesn’t care how much pain Russia suffers

He believes that ultimately we will flinch, that western politicians do not have the stomach for the fight

He believes that we will give up on Ukraine, give in to his aggression and go back to mainlining his hydrocarbons

And I have to tell you he is wrong

He is wrong about his assumptions about the British people

I think he is wrong about other European governments too by the way

I talked to Olaf Sholz last night and it is absolutely clear that Germany is resolute in moving away from dependence on Russian

And Putin in this strategy is going to fail

So we are helping people now with the cost of living and of course there will be more cash to come in the months ahead

Substantial sums – that’s absolutely clear

But now even more important our British energy security strategy of Great British nuclear is rectifying the chronic mistakes of the past

taking the long term decisions that this country needs
and I would say frankly folks over the last 3 years this government has done some very difficult things

we have done some of the hardest tasks that you can set politicians

we fixed our relations with the European Union

we settled that argument pretty conclusively

we got brexit done and took back control of our law-making even though we knew it would not be easy

we opened up our economy post covid faster than any other major country because of the speed of our vaccine rollout

we led the whole of Europe in helping the Ukrainians and in standing up to Putin and seeing the wisdom from the start in arming them and assisting them

and at every stage of the last three years – and I hope I can say this given this will be one of my last speeches in this office

at every stage what we have tried to do is put in the things that this country will need for the long term

to try to look at what future generations will need for their prosperity, their productivity and for their quality of life and to reduce the cost of living as well

so whether that’s gigabit broadband gone up from 7% penetration to 70% of premises now

three new high speed rail lines

investing massively in this country’s ability to make its own vaccines

fixing social care

coming up with a solution for that problem

I think it would be fair to say this government has not shirked the big decisions

we have raised our eyes, we’ve looked to the horizon

and I just say whoever follows me next week I know that they will do the same

No more national myopia

No more short termism

let’s think about our future, let’s think about our kids and grandchildren, about the next generation

with the prophetic candour and clarity of someone about to hand over the torch of office

I say go nuclear and go large and go with Sizewell C.

September 1, 2022
Boris Johnson – 2022 Speech at the Commissioning of HMS Anson

The speech made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, at Barrow-in-Furness on 31 August 2022.

Thank you very much Captain Bing.

Deputy Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen, it is fantastic to be here in Barrow, which is the crucible of British marine engineering, of course, and the historic vast maternity ward of these steel leviathans.

And when you look at HMS Anson ladies and gentlemen you are looking at the climax of eleven years of high precision effort by 10,500, brilliant shipwrights, and sonar experts, and weapons engineers – a concentration of talent and expertise that can be mustered by only two or three other countries in the world, at the most.

And on this special day, we give them our thanks.

And you’re looking, by the way, at a vessel that is five times as long as the chamber of the House of Commons and I think you will agree is an international argument considerably more persuasive than some of the things that are deployed in the chamber.

And this is also as the lady sponsor, as the wonderful lady sponsor pointed out this is the home, the place of work, play and rest for one hundred and ten brave submariners at sea, week in week out in the service of our country and to them in anticipation I think we should give our thanks.

When you’re looking at HMS Anson, you are also looking at a vast UK industrial project that represents all that we mean or certainly all that I mean by levelling up, that’s driving jobs and growth and the acquisition of skills up and down the country, sonar built in Somerset torpedoes built in Portsmouth, propulsion system, I think I might even say from Derby, Rolls Royce in Derby.

And you will know that those Rolls Royce reactors were, which are shortly going to be fired up, I think for the first time, they are the basis of the small modular reactor programme that this government has commissioned as part of our strategy to ensure that the people of this country get reliable supplies from the UK of the energy, affordable energy, that we need.

And I’ve just been informed by the by the brilliant people in BAE that these engines run so quietly, that the most important feature of this machine is that for all its enormous bulk.

And by the way, it’s I think it’s smaller than the dreadnought, but it’s still colossal.

All its bulk, you cannot hear it coming.

And I can tell you that I’ve just been out with the Metropolitan Police this morning on a dawn raid.

Coincidentally, in Lewisham, I think maybe South Norwood.

And I can tell you how important, is the element of surprise.

And we arrested a drug dealer, ladies and gentlemen that he was suddenly surprised to see me at the foot of his bed at 530 in the morning, he seemed remarkably pleased actually.

The element of surprise is crucial. And that is why HMS Anson is so vital for our defence, by leave of the Ministry of Defence and my great friends. The Secretary of State for Defence, I can tell you roughly what this boat does, it doesn’t actually carry the nuclear deterrent itself though it does carry as you know, plenty of other lethal stuff, but it does protect our nuclear deterrent.

And therefore today, ladies and gentlemen, what we are looking at is the policemen of the world, gathering intelligence protecting our sea lanes cruising up behind you silently you do not even know it’s there and invisibly helping to create that forcefield around us that is warding off attack on NATO countries for 80 years or getting on for 80 years keeping safe, a billion people around the world.

That is what this machine does.

And that’s why I’m so pleased, by the way, but under the AUKUS agreements with Australia and with the United States, the technology we hope in the submarine will be used to help keep people safe across the whole of the Pacific region as well.

Now, some people will continue to insist that this is a weapon of war.

I tell you that she is a guarantor of peace.

And in this uncertain world, we need that guarantee more than ever.

I congratulate all those who designed her. All those who built her. And I know that in the decades to come, all those who are going to set to sea in her.

And I know that in decades to come, when she’s out at sea, unseen beneath the surface of the water, keeping us safe, we will all remember the day that we were here in Barrow to see HMS Anson commission.

Thank you, God bless this wonderful submarine and all those who sail in her.

September 1, 2022
Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments on Australian and UK Defence Partnership

The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 31 August 2022. There is an associated press release.

HMS Anson is the perfect example of where levelling up the UK and generating jobs, skills and growth across our country goes hand-in-glove with Global Britain.

From the Pacific Ocean to the Baltic Sea, our submarine service is protecting the UK and our allies 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and the deployment of Australian submariners alongside our British crews epitomises the strength of the AUKUS partnership.

September 1, 2022
Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments on More Police Officers

The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 31 August 2022.

Making our streets safer has always been central to my mission to level up this country, because everyone should have the security, confidence and opportunity that comes from having a safe street and a safe home, wherever they live.

We are cracking down on vile gangs and putting dangerous offenders behind bars for longer – and at the heart of these efforts are the 20,000 new officers who will be out on the streets providing the firepower for years to come in the fight against crime.

August 31, 2022
Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments on Gibraltar Becoming a City

The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 29 August 2022.

It is excellent to see official recognition given to the City of Gibraltar, a huge accolade to its rich history and dynamism.

This official recognition re-affirms Gibraltar’s special status in the Realms of Her Majesty, and rightly signifies the pride that Gibraltarians feel for their community and their distinctive heritage.

August 29, 2022
Boris Johnson – 2022 Article in the Mail on Sunday on the Cost of Living

The article written by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 28 August 2022 which was published in the Mail on Sunday and released by Downing Street as a press release.

The months ahead are going to be tough, perhaps very tough. Our energy bills are going to be eye-watering. For many of us, the cost of heating our homes is already frightening.

And yet I have never been more certain that we will come through this well – and that Britain will emerge stronger and more prosperous the other side.

Let us remember who caused this global surge in the cost of energy, and what is at stake.

Yes, we were already seeing supply chain pressures last year, caused by the aftershocks of Covid, and that was causing a rise in some global prices.

But by the end of last year we were fixing it. The world was finding the lorry drivers. The container ships were moving. We were sourcing the silicon chips.

What no one had bargained for was the decision of Vladimir Putin – and it was his decision alone – to launch a vicious and irrational attack, on February 24, against an innocent European country.

It was Putin’s barbaric invasion that spooked the energy markets.

It is Putin’s war that is costing British consumers. That is why your energy bill is doubling. I am afraid Putin knows it. He likes it. And he wants us to buckle.

He believes that soft European politicians will not have the stomach for the struggle – that this coming winter we will throw in the sponge, take off the sanctions and go begging for Russian oil and gas.

He believes we will tire of backing Ukraine and begin discreetly to encourage the Ukrainians to do a deal, however nauseating, with the tyrant in the Kremlin.

That would be utter madness. In this brutal arm-wrestle, the Ukrainian people can and will win. And so will Britain.

With every month that goes by Putin’s position grows weaker. His ability to bully and blackmail is diminishing. And Britain’s position will grow stronger.

We must and we will help people through the crisis. Colossal sums of taxpayers’ money are already committed to helping people pay their bills. That cash is flowing now – and will continue to flow in the months ahead.

Another chunk of the £650 is already due to go to the eight million most vulnerable households this autumn. There is another £300 going to pensioners in November, £150 for the disabled and £400 for all energy bill payers.

Next month – whoever takes over from me – the Government will announce another huge package of financial support. It is worth remembering why we are in a position to make these payments.

We have the cash to support families across the country because we have already proved the pessimists wrong.

I remember sitting in the Cabinet room for an economic briefing in 2020 as the waves of the pandemic broke over the world and we saw the biggest drop in output for 300 years. They told me UK unemployment would top 14 per cent.

They said that millions would be thrown on to the economic scrapheap – with all the consequent costs to the Exchequer.

They were wrong. After becoming the first country in the world to approve an effective vaccine, we staged the fastest vaccine roll-out in Europe, the fastest exit from Covid. As a result we had the fastest growth in the G7 last year and instead of mass unemployment we have about 640,000 MORE people in payrolled employment than before the pandemic began.

Instead of being at 14 per cent, unemployment is at 3.8 per cent, nearly the lowest for almost 50 years. That is giving us the fundamental economic strength to endure this crisis – as the Russian economy continues to melt down.

We are ending our dependency on Russian hydrocarbons. In June, for the first time in decades, we did not import any fuel from Russia. The UK has already stepped up production of domestic gas – 26 per cent more this year than last.

With every new windfarm we build offshore, with every new nuclear project we approve, we strengthen our strategic position. We become less vulnerable to the vagaries of the global gas price and less vulnerable to Putin’s pressure.

It is this Government that has reversed the apathy of decades and greenlighted new nuclear plants.

For 13 wasted years Labour refused to approve a single new project, with the result that the nuclear industry was heading for near collapse.

We are going to build a new reactor every year and will have a colossal 50 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 – almost half our total electricity consumption.

This British Energy Security Strategy is just a part of a vast programme to make the economy more productive and competitive.

In just three years we have increased the coverage of gigabit broadband from seven per cent of households to 70 per cent. We are strengthening the economic sinews of the country with the biggest investment in rail – three new high speed lines – for a century.

We have invested massively in skills, so that people can improve their qualifications throughout their lives.

We have taken decisive steps to make this the best place in the world to invest and start a business. We are axing dozens of burdensome EU laws – including Solvency 2 and MiFID, that acted as unnecessary deterrents to investment.

We are creating eight new free- ports, cutting taxes on investment and lengthening our lead as a science superpower – with £22billion of investment in science and a new Advanced Research agency to crack the big problems of our time, from dementia to zero carbon aviation.

All this is paying off in jobs and growth. In the first quarter of this year the UK attracted more venture capital investment in technology than China.

We have more tech investment than France, Germany and Israel combined and we produce a new billion pound “unicorn” company roughly every two weeks.

These new ideas are blooming not just in the golden triangle of Oxford, Cambridge and London but across the whole UK as we drive forward our levelling up agenda.

We have laid the foundations for long-term gains in prosperity and productivity. We know we will bounce back from the crisis in the cost of energy as we rapidly build up our own UK supplies.

That is why we will succeed and why we cannot flinch now.

If Putin is allowed to get away with his murder and mayhem, and to change the borders of Europe by force, then he will simply do it again, elsewhere on the periphery of the former Soviet Union.

Other countries will draw the lesson that violence and aggression can pay off and that will usher in a new cycle of political and economic instability.

That is why we must continue to back the Ukrainians – and their military success continues to be remarkable. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has shown his country is fundamentally unconquerable.

Now is the time for the West to double down our support, not to go wobbly.

Now is the time to keep our nerve and ignore Labour and the union barons with their calls for endless fools’ gold – inflationary pay rises and taxpayer-funded support to some of the richest households.

We have more than enough resilience to get through tough months ahead. We have shown that before.

And we have made the long term decisions – including on domestic energy supply – to ensure that our bounceback can and should be remarkable and that our future will be golden.

August 28, 2022