London (AFP)

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday promised additional funding for the NHS public health system, seeking to keep one of his 2016 campaign promises for Brexit.

Boris Johnson pledged another 1.8 billion pounds (2 billion euros) to immediately help front-line services, a gesture that has reinforced speculation that he is preparing for early parliamentary elections.

During the referendum campaign on Britain's continued membership in the European Union, Boris Johnson, a supporter of the no vote, promised to allocate 350 million pounds, sent weekly to Brussels, to the NHS after the release of the EU countries.

But this claim was misleading: Great Britain's contribution to the European budget is £ 350 million a week, but it has a weekly discount of £ 85 million.

In the Sunday Times, Boris Johnson pays tribute to NHS staff but points to "pressure, delays, cancellations and the obvious need for more funding."

"This is why I am so determined to realize the promise of the 2016 referendum campaign now: not only to honor the will of the people but to increase the funds available for this extraordinary national institution," he writes.

However Labor, the main opposition party, wondered whether this money would really be affected and added that, even if it were, it would not remedy a decade of budget cuts.

The Nuffield Trust think tank reported that the NHS had a £ 6 billion backlog and that this additional funding was only a "part" of what is needed to fulfill Boris Johnson's commitment to modernize 20 hospitals .

Other critics have pointed out that this plan would never be realized in case of Brexit "hard", that is to say without agreement.

Boris Johnson promised to leave the European Union on October 31 after his predecessor, Theresa May, was forced to postpone the exit twice.

Parliament rejected the divorce agreement negotiated by Theresa May but many MEPs say they will prevent Boris Johnson from leaving the EU without agreement, fearing economic destabilization.

At the same time, EU leaders refuse to renegotiate the agreement with Theresa May, which creates a stalemate that can only be resolved, according to many parliamentarians, by early elections.

Boris Johnson fueled these speculations by touring the country and taking a series of engagements on domestic politics during his early days at Downing Street. The promise on the NHS follows a commitment on police funding.

© 2019 AFP