Boris Johnson visits Blackpool ahead of Conservative Conference next month
He has been talking about the 'Levelling Up' plan for the North
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been visitying Blackpool Winter Gardens today to talk about the 'Levelling Up' plan for the North and the Tory Party spring Conference.
It comes after plans were announced yesterday to 'level up' the country and tackle the inequalities faced across the UK.
Boris Johnson was at the Victoria hospital, before heading off to the Starr Gate tram depot -then finishing up this afternoon at the Winter Gardens, where the Tories will hold their Spring conference.
Speaking to heat radio, the Prime Minister says things are looking up for Blackpool.
Mr Johnson said: "We're putting money in for the local tram scheme, so £225 million for the tram to go all the way down the promenade from Blackpool North. Blackpool will be one of the 55 education investment areas under the Levelling Up programmes. We're going to be moving civil service jobs to Blackpool, with a DWP hub at the Talbolt Gateway development."
Speaking to us in Blackpool today, the PM told us why the prices have gone so high.
"I just want to say to everybody that I really understand how tough it is and the impact of this spike in energy prices", said the Prime Minister.
"This is driven by inflation around the world, particularly in the price of gas, and that's because the world economy has been waking up post-Covid. Places like China have been sucking in huge amounts of gas. The price is global.
"First of all we have got to fix our supply, so that we have security of energy supply here in the UK. There's much more potential across the North West to put in more renewables. We have also got to put in more nuclear and we have to have a sustainable long-term energy plan.
"We didn't make those investments that we should have done in the last 20 or 30 years, so now is the time to make them investments for the future, so people know that they're going to get the energy they need at costs that are affordable. What we also need to do is make sure people are in high wage, high skill jobs. One of the best things about the economy recovery at the moment is the sheer number of high wage jobs we're creating."
The Prime Minister's trip is ahead of the Conservative Party's spring conference which returns to Blackpool in just a few weeks. The conference is set to be held over 18 and 19 March at the Winter Gardens.
Johnson had originally planned to visit a Burnley vaccination centre in January, but the visit was scrapped after a family member tested positive for Covid-19 and he was advised not to travel.
The Prime Minister has been under scrutiny this week, as many have been calling for his resignation after the release of Sue Gray's report into a number of parties allegedly held at No. 10 during coronavirus restrictions.
Ms Gray's report details how she has investigated an alleged 16 parties during lockdown, of which 12 are now the subject of police enquiries.