Boris Johnson has claimed Brexit has given the UK the freedom to do things like develop COVID vaccines better than countries in the European Union.
In an upbeat New Year video message, the prime minister declared the Oxford vaccine breakthrough and the end of Brexit deadlock have given him confidence for the year ahead.
“This is an amazing moment for this country,” he said in a five-minute video recorded in 10 Downing Street. “We have our freedom in our hands and it is up to us to make the most of it.”
But despite his confidence, the PM warned of a “hard struggle” against COVID in 2021 before “eventually” returning to a normal life of pubs and restaurants and holding hands with loved ones.
Mr Johnson said: “In 2020 we have seen British scientists not only produce the world’s first effective treatment of the disease, but just in the last few days a beacon of hope has been lit in the laboratories of Oxford.
“A new room-temperature vaccine that can be produced cheaply and at scale, and that offers literally a new lease of life to people in this country and around the world.
“And with every jab that goes into the arm of every elderly or vulnerable person, we are changing the odds, in favour of humanity and against COVID.
The PM says the UK is now ‘free to turbocharge our ambition to be a science superpower’
“And we know that we have a hard struggle still ahead of us for weeks and months, because we face a new variant of the disease that requires a new vigilance.”
Linking optimism over COVID vaccines to Brexit, Mr Johnson said: “But as the sun rises tomorrow on 2021 we have the certainty of those vaccines.
“Pioneered in a UK that is also free to do things differently, and if necessary better, than our friends in the EU.
“Free to do trade deals around the world. And free to turbocharge our ambition to be a science superpower.
“From biosciences to artificial intelligence, and with our world-leading battery and wind technology we will work with partners around the world.
“Not just to tackle climate change but to create the millions of high-skilled jobs this country will need not just this year – 2021 – as we bounce back from COVID, but in the years to come.”
But 2021 would above all be the year when the British people would “eventually do those everyday things that now seem lost in the past”, Mr Johnson predicted.
“Bathed in a rosy glow of nostalgia, going to the pub, concerts, theatres, restaurants, or simply holding hands with our loved ones in the normal way,” he said..
The prime minister warned, however: “We are still a way off from that, there are tough weeks and months ahead.
“But we can see that illuminated sign that marks the end of the journey, and even more important, we can see with growing clarity how we are going to get there.
“And that is what gives me such confidence about 2021.”
The PM lamented a year in which people were told how to live their lives and how long to wash their hands
Lamenting a tough 2020, Mr Johnson said: “The year in which the government was forced to tell people how to live their lives, how long to wash their hands, how many households could meet together.
“And a year in which we lost too many loved ones before their time. So I can imagine that there will be plenty of people who will be only too happy to say goodbye to the grimness of 2020.
“But just before we do, I want to remind you that this was also the year when we rediscovered a spirit of togetherness, of community.
“It was a year in which we banged saucepans to celebrate the courage and self-sacrifice of our NHS staff and care home workers.
“A year in which working people pulled the stops out to keep the country moving in the biggest crisis we have faced for generations – shop workers, transport staff, pharmacists, emergency services, everyone, you name it.
“We saw a renewed spirit of volunteering, as people delivered food to the elderly and vulnerable.
“And time after time as it became necessary to fight new waves of the virus, we saw people unite in their determination, our determination, to protect the NHS and to save lives.
“Putting their lives, your lives, on hold. Buying precious time for medicine to provide the answers, and it has.”
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UK’s ‘best years are still to come’
In his New Year message, published earlier, the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also said there were reasons to be optimistic at the start of 2021.
“Optimistic at the distribution of the vaccine, optimistic that we will once again hold loved ones and have our freedom, that our economy can start growing, businesses can start trading and we can focus on the task at hand of rebuilding our country,” he said.
“But until then, it is all of our duty to stay safe, to look after neighbours, keep up the national effort that has got us this far.
“Because when this crisis ends, and it will end, we will rebuild our country, together.
“This should be inspired by the bravery and heroism of those who have been on the frontline since the start of the pandemic.
“Our key workers, our carers, NHS workers, police officers, those who kept streets safe and our supermarkets stocked at the peak of the crisis.”
On Brexit, Sir Keir said: “The United Kingdom is forging a new path in the world.
“And the Labour Party that I lead will focus on ensuring that path leads to greater prosperity, fairness and opportunity for every nation and region, every village, every town and city that makes up our great United Kingdom.
“I believe this can once again be the best country to grow up in and the best country to grow old in. And with that hope and that vision, I believe that our best years are still to come.”
