The Prime Minister’s conference speech dominated the comment sections of the newspapers.
The Daily Mail
Stephen Glover said Boris Johnson gave an outstanding performance at the Tory party conference on Wednesday.
“No one else in British politics could have made it,” he said. “Impressive though it was, the speech nonetheless exposed Boris’s weaknesses. Although he has turned out to be a far more formidable politician than I thought possible only 18 months ago, his grasp of economics is unusually sketchy even for a prime minister.”
He said it could be Boris’s - and the country’s - downfall.
“In such gloomy circumstances almost any political leader I can think of would try to reassure people that things are not quite as bad as they look,” he said. “It is his economics that worry me. After hearing his speech, I am still unclear what exactly is involved in ‘levelling up’. What seems certain is that in Boris’s mind it will involve spending huge amounts of taxpayers’ money we do not have. Sooner or later, though, his disdain for the laws of economics is bound to catch up with him — and the country. Even Boris Johnson can’t make water run uphill.”
The Daily Express
Leo McKinstry described the Prime Minster’s speech as ‘electrifying’.
“With his unorthodox mix of humour, poetry, insight, optimism and inspiration, he proved why he remains the dominant figure in British politics,” he said. “He could not have made a more exhilarating comeback or set out a bolder vision for his Government.”
He said Mr Johnson’s imagination was as vivid as his language.
“But beyond its capacity to entertain, what was truly impressive was the speech’s central theme of levelling up to create a fairer, more prosperous society. He outlined a formidable political project that could refashion the very fabric of our country.”
The Guardian
Larry Elliott said there was nothing original about saying Britain needs a new economic model.
“The idea that Britain needs root-and-branch reform to make it a high-productivity economy has been around for decades,” he said. “It is voiced every time there’s a scandal involving gang masters or the squalid conditions in which migrant workers have been forced to live.”
He said what was unusual was that it was coming from Boris Johnson’s Government.
“This should be happy times for the opposition. Johnson has as good as admitted that Labour has been right in its critique of Britain’s economic failings all along. He has gone out of his way to antagonise business at the start of what looks like being a long, hard winter.
“The upbeat mood of the Tories in Manchester was noticeable by its absence when Labour met in Brighton last week.”
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