One week before Britain’s election, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was confident enough to publish a plan on Thursday for his first 100 days in office, boosted by an endorsement from Brexit Party MEPs.
Jeremy Corbyn’s main opposition Labour party is struggling to close the gap in opinion polls with Johnson’s governing Conservatives, which remains at around 10 points.
Meanwhile, the electoral threat posed by Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party receded further with the decision of four of its European Parliament MPs to endorse the prime minister.
Johnson has promised to get Britain out of the European Union on January 31, after years of turmoil sparked by the 2016 referendum vote for Brexit.
But he says this would only be possible if he wins a majority of MPs in the December 12 election, allowing him to get his EU divorce deal through parliament.
“If there is a Conservative majority next week, we will get Brexit done by the end of January. 2020 will then be the year we finally put behind us the arguments and uncertainty over Brexit,” he said.
He also announced an unspecified tax cut for “hard-working families”, which he said would be unveiled in a post-Brexit budget in February.
Within 100 days of taking office, he also vowed to pass laws to increase school funding and toughen sentencing laws, as well as beginning moves to shake up the immigration system.