UK Tories complains to TV watchdog over climate debate

Prime Minister Boris Johnson struggled Friday to move Britain’s election debate away from questions about his character and onto Brexit, promising to bolster protection for British businesses and farmers once country has left European Union. Johnson tried to brush aside criticism of his past comments about single mors and his current refusal to submit to same amount of televised scrutiny as or party leers.

At a news conference, Johnson claimed Brexit h been “delayed, diluted, denied” by obstructive politicians. He said that if Conservatives won Dec. 12 election he would take U.K. out of European Union on currently scheduled date of Jan. 31, so that “we can finally move on as a country.”

He touted alleged benefits that would come with departure from 28-nation tre bloc, saying his government would introduce new state-aid rules allowing government to step in to help struggling businesses.

level of support EU governments can give industries is limited by regulations barring anything that might distort competition.

Johnson also vowed to scrap an EU-required tax on tampons and sanitary ps and introduce a requirement for public bodies to buy British produce rar than imports.

Promising more state intervention in ecomy is reminiscent of left-of-centre Labour Party, rar than free-marketeer Conservatives, and appears designed to help Tories win over Brexit-backing Labour supporters.

All 650 seats in House of Commons are up for grabs in Dec. 12 election, which is being held more than two years early after Parliament became delocked over Brexit.

Johnson wants to secure a Conservative majority in election so he can push through Brexit divorce deal he negotiated with EU. Under terms of that deal, U.K. would leave EU on Jan. 31 but remain bound by bloc’s rules until end of 2020.

On Friday, Johnson repeated his assertion that Britain and EU will be able to strike a new free tre deal by end next year, a timescale tre experts say is wildly ambitious.

“I am full of optimism and confidence and suggest that everybody else should be as well,” he said.

But Johnson also anunced plans to diverge from EU rules in significant ways, which would make it harder to retain close tre ties with bloc. And he said he would t extend transition period beyond end of 2020, even if tre deal was in place.

Ecomists warn that a -deal Brexit would plunge Britain into recession and severely impede commerce with EU, its biggest tring partner.

With most polls showing a double-digit le for Johnson’s Conservatives and less than two weeks until polling day, governing party is keen to limit prime minister’s opportunities for gaffes and slip-ups.

That has led to allegations he is dodging scrutiny. Johnson declined to take part in a debate Thursday alongside his main opponent, Jeremy Corbyn of Labour Party, and or party leers and has so far refused to commit to a one-on-one TV interview with BBC interrogator Andrew Neil.

“I’ve done plenty of debates,” Johnson told rio station LBC on Friday. “I can’t do absolutely everything.”

Conservatives were also embroiled in a feud with brocaster Channel 4 over network’s decision to put an Earth-shaped ice sculpture in place of Johnson after he declined to appear for Thursday’s climate change-med TV debate.

party complained to Britain’s brocast watchdog, Ofcom, over what it called “a provocative partisan stunt.”

Five party leers took part. Johnson and Brexit Party leer Nigel Far declined to attend and were replaced with melting sculptures atop podiums.

Johnson has faced questions about his character throughout campaign. prime minister has a history of making offensive remarks, including a newspaper column last year in which he compared women who wear face-covering veils to “letterboxes.”

This week Labour Party uneard an article Johnson wrote in conservative magazine Spectator in 1995 in which he called children of single mors “ill-raised, igrant, aggressive and illegitimate.”

Asked about those remarks Friday, Johnson said he h written “millions of words” in his career, and “everybody is able to find some y can cull from texts and twist m and distort m.” He did t distance himself from comments about single mors.