Boris Johnson hailed by his party despite UK’s economic woes

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Britain is experiencing empty gas pumps, worker shortages and unavailable items on store shelves. But Prime Minister Boris Johnson has played to an adoring crowd during his Conservative Party’s annual conference. Johnson ends the four-day conference Wednesday with a speech promising that Britain will emerge from Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic a stronger and more dynamic country even if the road is a bit rocky. He said before the speech that he would turn the U.K. into “a higher-wage” and “higher-productivity economy.” The country is dealing for now with the fallout from the pandemic and its departure from the European Union. Both have combined to create a supply-chain crisis.