UK’s embattled Johnson seeks reset with major economic plan

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The British government has set out plans for a huge shift in power and wealth to left-behind regions of the country. That’s a long-standing promise to the voters who helped put Prime Minister Boris Johnson in office. Johnson’s Conservative government was elected in 2019 on a pledge to “level up” one of Europe’s most regionally unequal countries. The government fleshed out that promise Wednesday with details of plans to invest in public transport, education, digital connectivity and R&D in poorer regions, mostly in central and northern England, by 2030. But there are few details of how the ambitious plans will be funded. Johnson hopes announcing the long-awaited plans will provide some respite from the scandal over lockdown-breaching parties by his government.