Boris Johnson brushes off UK woes, vows to transform economy

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Britain is experiencing empty gas pumps, worker shortages and unavailable items on store shelves. None of that got a mention from Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday as he brushed off Britain’s economic bumps and said the country would emerge from Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic as a stronger, more dynamic nation. Johnson told the Conservative Party’s annual conference that he’d end “decades of drift and dither” and tackle “long-term structural weaknesses in the U.K. economy,” especially a reliance on low-cost labor from abroad. The country is dealing for now with the fallout from the pandemic and its departure from the European Union. Both have combined to create a supply-chain crisis.