British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government, on Wednesday, promised to set aside an extra 2 billion pounds (2.4 billion dollars) for Brexit delivery.
This was, however, a move dismissed as “pre-election stunt’’ by the opposition Labour party.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid also promised an increase of 13.8 billion pounds in day-to-day spending to deliver on the public’s priorities as well as more funds for health and other public services.
“Within my first few days as chancellor, I provided 2.1 billion pounds of extra funding for Brexit and ‘no deal’ preparedness.
“today, I can announce that we provide a further 2 billion pounds for Brexit delivery next year as well.’’
Johnson has urged opposition lawmakers to back his plan for a snap election on October 15 if, as expected, they support a bill to prevent a no-deal Brexit.
Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell, in response to Javid’s statement said “nobody could mistake this one-off pre-election stunt for a real end to a decade of austerity.
“After years of slash and burn, today’s announcements add up to less than one third of the 47 billion pounds of cuts this government has voted through since 2010.’’ (dpa/NAN)