Post-Brexit: PM Johnson pledges to maximise taxes, turn UK into science superpower

*British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says his administration plans to take the new opportunities post-Brexit era provides to pioneer developments in biosciences, artificial intelligence, battery and wind power technology to create millions of high-skilled jobs for the citizenry

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Sequel to recent finalisation of the Brexit deal between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU), British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says his administration plans to make the country “a science superpower” as the UK finally parts from the EU’s single market and customs rules.

Agency report indicates that the Brexit transition period would end at 11 p.m. in London, marking the final separation of the UK from the EU, four years after the country voted to quit the bloc.

Johnson, in his New Year message, disclosed that he wants to take the new opportunities Brexit provides to pioneer developments in biosciences, artificial intelligence and battery and wind power technology, and create millions of high-skilled jobs.

The Prime Minister in statement from his office “this is an amazing moment for this country…. We have our freedom in our hands and it is up to us to make the most of it.”

It was learnt that over the months ahead, Johnson’s administration has a more pressing emergency ─ racing to roll out vaccines fast enough to control the coronavirus.

With a record 55,892 new daily cases recorded Thursday, December 31, 2020, and 964 more deaths, the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is entering what ministers say is a highly dangerous phase.

Johnson noted “we know that we have a hard struggle still ahead of us for weeks and months, because we face a new variant of the disease that requires a new vigilance.

“But as the sun rises tomorrow on 2021 we have the certainty of those vaccines, pioneered in a UK that is also free to do things differently, and if necessary better, than our friends in the EU.”

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson in an interview with BBC television has opined that leaving the European Union is an opportunity for the UK to use taxes and subsidies to encourage companies to ramp up spending.

He said besides regulatory change, “you can use tax systems and subsidies to drive investment.”

The question of state aid rules was a major hurdle for the Brexit trade negotiations. Under the terms of the deal, either side can impose tariffs on the other if it is clear that businesses are being unfairly undercut, according to report.

The UK is now operating outside of the bloc for the first time after the end of the transition period.

However, several economists expect that more paperwork and barriers to trade will hurt economic growth just as the Coronavirus pandemic hammers output.

The Prime Minister stated that despite a raft of fresh regulations for trading with the EU, Brexit is still a boon for exporters.

“There is some bureaucracy and we’re trying to remove it.

“We have a massive opportunity to expand our horizons, and to think globally, and to think big.”