Boris Johnson wants ‘more than anything’ to host G7 in Cornwall amid Covid fears
The G7 world leaders took a 'virtual visit' to the UK for the first event hosted by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson ahead of the summit in Cornwall this summer.
The meeting at Carbis Bay in June 2021 is likely to be the first in-person gathering of the global leaders since the start of the global pandemic but is under threat due to Covid.
The leaders are due to debate climate change policy and establish a global-scale economic rebound strategy, and Boris Johnson is adamant he wants the meeting to continue as planned.
He said: "What I want to do more than anything else is to have this meeting face to face as the G7 usually does in Carbis Bay in Cornwall, one of the many pearls of the Cornish Riviera in June.
"I'm much looking forward to that and to make that possible we're vaccinating our entire populations."
The Prime Minister is due to address the nation on Monday 22 February and lay out a 'roadmap' for covid restrictions to potentially lift later this year.
The pandemic has threatened major international and domestic events, and it is hoped that the G7 Summit will provide an economic boost to the region.
Locals in Cornwall have contrasting views about whether the G7 Summit should take place in the West Country.
One resident said: "I would probably say it would happen, I think everybody’s feeling quite optimistic about things even though slowly unlocking with the vaccine rollout and the fact that it’s the summer and I think it’ll be a great thing for Cornwall."
However, others fear that the number of people infected with coronavirus is still too high to prepare for a visit of international leaders this summer.
When asked if the G7 summit should go ahead, one resident said: "No, not as it stands at the minute with the numbers as they are. It wouldn’t be safe to do so. "If it’s not safe for everything to open and for us to be doing what we should be doing then they shouldn’t be given the green light to come down."
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