Upbeat PM Boris Johnson again promises to get Brexit done in December 12 manifesto

Buoyed by rising ratings in opinion polls, Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday unveiled the Conservative manifesto for the December 12 election – “the most critical election in modern memory” – by harping on the theme of ‘Get Brexit done’.

The second ‘Brexit election’ after the mid-term election in 2017, parties are seeking to exploit widespread ennui over the long delay and debates since the 2016 referendum that resulted in a 52 per cent to 48 per cent vote to leave the European Union.

Hoping to win a majority to deliver the Brexit agreement reached by the Johnson government with Brussels, the Conservative party is pitching its appeal as a ‘parliament versus people’ binary, alleging that the dissolved House of Commons had blocked its attempt to deliver Brexit.

Johnson, who became prime minister in July promising to deliver Brexit, released the manifesto in Telford as the Observer reported a new opinion poll that suggests the Conservatives have taken a commanding 19-point lead over Labour.

The Conservative share of the vote now stands at 47 per cent, with Labour on 28 per cent and the Liberal Democrats falling back to 12 per cent. The Brexit party is placed at 3 per cent. Underlying the Conservative lead is the party’s success in attracting support from ‘Leave EU’ voters, the Sunday paper reported.

Johnson said: “Get Brexit done and we can focus our hearts and our minds on the priorities of the British people”, going on to mock Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has promised another referendum of his party forms the next government.

Corbyn’s position is to reach another – “sensible” – agreement with EU and put it before the people in the new referendum. He has promised to retain a neutral position in the referendum, in which the people would be approve the new agreement or remain in the EU.

Ridiculing Corbyn for his neutral position on Brexit, Johnson said that if the Labour leader does not believe in the agreement: “Then who does believe in it? It would be farcical and comical if the consequences of that approach weren’t so disastrous”.

“In this manifesto there is a vision for the future of this country in which we unite our amazing country and level up across the country. We believe that after three and a half years of being held back by a broken Parliament it is time to unleash the potential of the whole country and to forge a new Britain,” Johnson added.