PM Johnson vows to transform UK after pandemic

Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised on Tuesday (October 6) to transform Britain after the coronavirus crisis by building more new homes, improving education, fighting crime and boosting the green economy.

He was speaking at a virtual Conservative party conference.

"I can today announce that the UK government has decided to become the world leader in low cost clean power generation - cheaper than coal, cheaper than gas. And we believe that in 10 years time, offshore wind will be powering every home in the country, with our target rising from 30 gigawatts to 40 gigawatts. You heard me right. Your kettle, your washing machine, your cooker, your heating, your plug-in electric vehicle - the whole lot of them will get their juice cleanly and without guilt from the breezes that blow around these islands. We will invest £160m in ports and factories across the country, to manufacture the next generation of turbines. And we will not only build fixed arrays in the sea. We will build windmills that float on the sea"

He said that in a post COVID world, simply returning to where the UK was last year wouldn't be good enough, as he pledged to reform government and tackle inequality.

"We are resolving not to go back to 2019, but to do better: to reform our system of government, to renew our infrastructure; to spread opportunity more widely and fairly and create the conditions for a dynamic recovery that is led not by the state but by free enterprise."

But there were few clues on funding - and opposition parties criticised the speech, saying there was scarce detail on how he would protect jobs or get control over the increasing number of coronavirus infections.