![]() Labour called it “shambolic” and proof of how unseriously Johnson takes business. The GMB union described the speech as “hogwash”. “I wasn’t expecting a Peppa Pig reference,” said Neil Whittaker, director of marketing and communications at national training firm Learning Curve Group. “It shows a bit of a lack of understanding, I think.” “It was interesting that he asked a group of business leaders in the north-east if they have travelled six hours down the road to Peppa Pig World and then talk about levelling up,” said Michael Stirrup, chief executive of IT consultancy Waterstons. Two other business figures who were in the audience for the speech said they were surprised by Johnson’s promotion of Peppa Pig World, which is located more than 300 miles from the Port of Tyne where the speech was held. We haven’t seen much of that in the reporting of the prime minister’s speech.” “What business leaders want more than anything is a calm and reassuring macroeconomic environment that gives them the confidence to invest for the future. Kitty Ussher, of business leaders’ group the Institute of Directors, said Johnson’s speech offered little to inspire confidence and was “inappropriate” in places. There was lots of disjointed initiatives, some that obviously had no relevance at all … As a businessperson passionate about reindustrialising the north, it was just a huge disappointment.” He said the speech was a “massive opportunity” after an absence of detail about levelling up in recent months.īut he said: “It was a flop. Juergen Maier, vice-chair of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership and a former chief executive of Siemens, told the Guardian it was a “failed speech”. He is losing the confidence of the party.” One senior backbencher said it was a “mess”, while another told the Guardian: “I thought today’s performance was the most embarrassing by a Conservative prime minister since last week’s PMQs. However, senior business figures and some Tory MPs were deeply unimpressed. The prime minister said: “I said to my officials the new 10 commandments were that ‘Thou shalt develop industries like offshore wind, hydrogen, nuclear power and carbon capture.’” He also compared himself to Moses over his plan to help business invest in tackling climate change. Johnson also imitated the sound of an accelerating car with grunts that the official Downing Street release transcribed as “arum arum aaaaaaaaag”. ![]() “I think that is pure genius, don’t you? No government in the world, no Whitehall civil servant, would conceivably have come up with Peppa.” Johnson said the TV show “was rejected by the BBC and has now been exported to 180 countries” and now worth £6bn. Johnson explained that the “real lesson” he learned on the visit was that the popularity of the main character – who he said resembled a “Picasso-like hairdryer” – was evidence of “the power of UK creativity”. Even if they’re a bit stereotypical about Daddy Pig.” It has very safe streets, discipline in schools, heavy emphasis on new mass transit systems. Peppa Pig World is very much my kind of place. Hands up if you’ve been to Peppa Pig World! To illustrate this, he explained: “Yesterday I went, as we all must, to Peppa Pig World. He said that “the true driver of growth is not the government”, but the private sector, whose energy and originality the prime minister praised. One of Johnson’s lengthier tangents was about his recent trip to Hampshire’s Peppa Pig World – an amusement park dedicated to a children’s cartoon character, which he opined on in an apparent dig at civil servants and the BBC. However, the speech at the Port of Tyne near South Shields only contained an announcement about changing building regulations to ensure all new homes and buildings in England have electric vehicle charging points installed from next year. Some hoped the speech would be a chance for Johnson to announce proper policy in the pursuit of his “levelling up” agenda. ![]()
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