Johnson pledges to drive growth amid British recession fear
Prime Minister Boris Johnson walks through the Members' Lobby at the Palace of Westminster ahead of the state opening of parliament in the House of Lords on Tuesday.
British prime minister Boris Johnson promised to revive Britain's economic growth to help those struggling with a cost-of-living crisis and to tackle regional inequalities after setting out his government's agenda for the coming months.
Punished by voters in last week's local elections over Covid lockdown-related scandals and soaring inflation, Mr Johnson said his ruling Conservative Party would "deliver on the promises we made" in the 2019 election.
The plans, contained in the queen's speech, set out 38 bills, including measures to revitalise Britain's high streets, crack down on illicit finance and make London's financial district more attractive to global investors after Brexit.
But there was little to comfort the millions of people struggling with higher fuel and food costs.
Mr Johnson told parliament his government would do all it could to help those struggling with rising prices, but "however great our compassion and ingenuity, we cannot simply spend our way out of this problem, we need to grow out of this problem".
The Bank of England said last week Britain risks a double-whammy of a recession and inflation above 10%.
• Reuters
