Sunak says Boris Johnson will press on with policy reset in self-isolation
Rishi Sunak has insisted this morning that Boris Johnson will push ahead with his planned two weeks of policy announcements despite being in self-isolation.
Number 10 announced yesterday that he Prime Minister was due to unveil a string of new policies in the coming days in an attempt to reset his government after the tumultuous exit of his top two aides.
This includes a ten-point plan on how to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and confirming new infrastructure projects as part of his agenda to “level up” the North and the Midlands.
It was announced last night that Johnson would have to self-isolate for the next 14 days as he had been in close contact with an MP with Covid, but the Prime Minister said this morning he is “as fit as a butcher’s dog”.
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Sunak said the Prime Minister’s planned reset will not be derailed by his self-isolation and that Johnson would still be publishing “our plan for the green revolution” this week.
“The government, like all other businesses and organisations in the last few months, has learned to do things differently,” Sunak said.
“We are doing a lot of meetings online… we are getting on with delivering on the people’s priorities.”
Johnson’s top two advisers Lee Cain and Dominic Cummings – both prominent figures in the Vote Leave campaign – were ousted from Number 10 this week after a bitter factional war exploded to the surface on Thursday.
Their exit sounds the end of the so-called “Vote Leave government” and will usher in a new era at Number 10.
A part of that reset will be mending poor relations with backbench MPs, refocusing on “levelling up” the Midlands and the North and managing the UK’s post-Brexit future from 1 January.