British PM Boris Johnson promises massive investment to propel coronavirus recovery

Johnson likened his plan to former US president Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 1930s which created a comprehensive social care system

The current spending programme has supported 9 million jobs and cost the government tens of billions of pounds

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a visit to the construction site of a school in west London. Photo: AP

Published: 7:14pm, 29 Jun 2020Updated: 7:19pm, 29 Jun 2020

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday said the coronavirus crisis needed the type of massive economic response US president Franklin D. Roosevelt mobilised to deal with the Great Depression.

Johnson told The Times newspaper’s new radio station that Britain was heading for “bumpy times” as it struggles through its biggest economic contraction on record.

He intends to unveil a spending programme in a speech on Tuesday his office has simply dubbed “build, build, build”.

“I think this is the moment for a Rooseveltian approach to the UK,” Johnson said. “I really think the investment will pay off.”

Roosevelt launched the New Deal programme in the 1930s that created a comprehensive social care system whose legacy lives on to this day.

The first part of Johnson’s initiative earmarks £1 billion (US$1.2 billion) for school repairs.

“The country has gone through a profound shock,” he said. “We really want to build back better, to do things differently, to invest in infrastructure, transport, broadband – you name it.”