Johnson: Can’t ‘magic away’ cost of living problems but UK will draw on ‘fiscal firepower’

Boris Johnson has said the government will have to draw upon its “fiscal firepower” to get through the cost of living crisis, but there is no way he can “magic away” the problem.

Speaking at a conference in Wales today, the prime minister said Britain will “get through” its current problems, marked by a 40-year high rate of inflation and soaring costs of living.

“Just as we got the most difficult challenges of Covid right, we got the big calls right, we will get this country through the big challenges now of the post-Covid aftershocks, the pressures caused in particular by the rise in the cost of living”, he said.

This comes as the war in Ukraine has made the pressures on people’s finances more acute, with concerns about energy and food security. Today, the UK accused Russia of using food as a ‘weapon’ of war.

“Everyone can see what’s happening, the cost of fuel pumps, the price of food, the cost of energy, we all know how tough it is and how tough it can be.”

He added: “I’m not going to pretend to you that we can magic away every single expense that people are going to face as a result of a global spike in energy prices.

“But be in no doubt that this will come down, we will get people through it. We will use the firepower we have built up to put our arms around people, just as we did during the pandemic.”

“We’re going to put our arms around the British people again as we did during COVID.”