Brits fatter than the rest of Europe, Johnson says

Speaking to Times Radio on Monday (June 29), Johnson promised a "Rooseveltian" boost to public spending to help the country's economy recover from the coronavirus shock and said a return to austerity would be a mistake.

Johnson said he would double down on his plans to increase investment and said his government - which has already announced emergency spending and tax measures worth an estimated 133 billion pounds - would continue to help people and businesses.

Addressing obesity levels in the UK, Johnson said Britons were significantly fatter than people in most of the rest of Europe, admitting he had lost weight after contracting the novel coronavirus.

Johnson, who said at the start of the year that he needed to lose weight, was hospitalised in April with coronavirus and treated in intensive care with oxygen. He later said doctors in the National Health Service (NHS) had saved his life.