Boris Johnson told Tories to congratulate one another on the ‘sheer scale of their achievements’ as he channeled his inner Thatcher at the Conservative party conference.

The prime minister claimed his party had ‘got Brexit done, got the vaccine rollout done’ and was well-placed to tackle the social care crisis in his keynote speech this morning.

But his remarks come as the country remains plagued by fuel and food shortages, warnings of empty shelves at Christmas and a looming unnecessarily cull of 100,000 pigs.

‘Millions’ are set to face hardship this winter with a £20-a-week Universal Credit cut that starts from today.

The slash comes after Mr Johnson broke an election pledge by announcing a £12-billion-a-year tax raid to recover from the pandemic.

The Tory leader described his party as ‘the most hip, happening party in the world’, as he promised to ‘get on with job of uniting and levelling up the UK’ on Wednesday.

He said ‘building back bigger’ was the ‘right and responsible policy’ that would offer ‘hope and opportunity’ to millions.

Speaking in Manchester, he said: ‘When I stood on the steps of Downing Street, I promised to fix this crisis.

‘After decades of drift and dither, this reforming Government, this can-do Government, this Government that got Brexit done, that is getting the Covid vaccine rollout done, is going to get social care done and we’re going to get the biggest underlying issues of our economy and society – the problems that no government has had the guts to tackle.’

Mr Johnson said he recognised the UK has ‘one of most imbalanced societies’ – noting there is a particular gap between the south and north.

He said he sees no reason why ‘one half of the country should be geographically fated to be poorer or be forced to move to reach their potential’.

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He added: ‘The idea in a nutshell is you will find talent, genius, care, imagination and enthusiasm everywhere in this country, all of them evenly distributed but opportunity is not.

‘Our mission as Conservatives is to promote opportunity with every tool we have.’

His remarks come days after he admitted the UK could be plagued by shortages until Christmas.

Shocking scenes last month saw fights break out at petrol stations after a shortage of HGV drivers sent panic buyers out in their droves.

The Army has been drafted in to restock fuel stations after many ran completely dry.

Only 127 people have applied for a temporary visa scheme designed to solve the crisis, it was revealed yesterday.

Meanwhile, farmers face slaughtering 100,000 pigs amid a shortage of butchers to work in slaughterhouses following Brexit.

CO2 is needed to stun animals so they can be killed humanely, but the shutdown of two fertiliser plants has resulted in a massive shortfall.

The prime minister has confessed he was told months ago that the supply chain could be in major trouble.

Mr Johnson’s speech marks the end of the Tory conference, which saw top ministers like Rishi Sunak and Michael Gove also address crowds.

Tempers were raised when the chancellor told people across the country ‘recovery comes with a cost’.

Mr Sunak said on Monday the nation should be ‘grateful’ for 10 years of Tory austerity as ‘strong public finances don’t happen by accident’.

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