Prime minister Boris Johnson had high praise for the creators of Peppa Pig today, but told business leaders that the “pure genius” of the franchise could not have been conceived by government.
In a speech to the CBI, Johnson announced new regulations which will mean that all new housing and commercial developments must include electric vehicle charging points. He also told business leaders that the private sector, not the government, is the “true driver of growth” in the country.
“The government cannot fix everything, and government sometimes should get out of your hair,” Johnson said.
The prime minister told the audience that he had visited Peppa Pig World at the weekend, describing it as "my kind of place".
“The real lesson for me was about the power of UK creativity," he said.
He described Peppa as “a pig that looks like a hairdryer” and said that despite being rejected by the BBC, the programme “has now been exported to 180 countries with theme parks both in America and China as well as as well as in the New Forest.”
The business, he said, is worth at least £6bn to the UK. “Now I think that is pure genius don’t you? No government in the world, no Whitehall civil servant, would conceivably have come up with Peppa."
At one point in the speech, in which he also said the UK would be the home of the new green industrial revolution and have a “first-mover advantage” as it introduces greener energy, Johnson lost his place and spent 20 seconds repeating “forgive me” while he arranged his notes into order.