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Johnson’s speech ‘nothing but hot air’ amid Universal Credit cuts

PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson’s conference speech today was “nothing but hot air,” unions and charities said, as his government pushed ahead with cuts to universal credit.

The PM closed the four-day Conservative Party conference with his 44-minute leader’s speech.

He said he had “the guts” to reshape society and that former prime minister Margaret Thatcher would have approved of his tax rise to pay for social care.

Child Poverty Action Group chief executive Alison Garnham questioned whether the government “has the guts” to tackle rising child poverty or will continue to sidestep the issue as an inconvenience.

She said: “The Prime Minister’s vocabulary was action-packed but the big action for struggling families has been a benefits cut that leaves them without enough to live on.”

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said that if the PM was serious about levelling-up Britain, he would not be slashing universal credit.

She said: “The PM is in no position to lecture people on wages when he is holding down the pay of millions of key workers in the public sector.”

The PM issued fresh calls for workers to return to their offices and hailed the capitalist system that led to the development of Covid-19 vaccinations.

He said it was the private sector that made the “wonder drug” possible.

The Public and Commercial Services union said the comments were reckless to public safety, while Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said the PM had no grasp of the financial fears keeping people awake at night.

Transport Salaried Staffs Association general secretary Manuel Cortes said: “As ever, this political jester came up with nothing but hot air.

“It looks and feels as though an iceberg is heading towards our economy and Johnson is the captain of a rudderless ship, incapable of steering a course to safety.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham called the speech nothing more than headline chasing and said it deflected from the cost-of-living crisis.

The PM also said that the government would give an incentive of £3,000 to encourage science and maths teachers to head to different areas of the country.

The move will be on top of a £30,000 starting salary for teachers.

National Education Union joint general secretary Kevin Courtney said that the premium ignored teacher shortages across the curriculum.

He said: “Unreasonable and intensive workloads, pay and lack of professional agency is driving teachers from the profession in ever-increasing numbers.”

Labour chairwoman Anneliese Dodds said it was clear that the Tories “don’t have a clue” about the situation being faced by many people. 

“Far from getting a grip on the spiralling costs of energy, fuel and food, the Tories are actively making things worse,” she said.

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