LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to promise changes to the direction that the U.K. economy is traveling in, outlining plans on Wednesday for the country to become a “high wage, high skill, high productivity economy.”Due to address his Conservative Party’s annual conference later on Wednesday, Johnson is expected to tell delegates that the government is “dealing with the biggest underlying issues of our economy and society” and is ready to tackle “problems that no government has had the guts to tackle before.”The speech comes at a difficult moment for Johnson, with the U.K. suffering shortages of fuel deliveries in recent weeks and amid warnings that food supplies could be hit in the runup to Christmas.Shortages are mainly due to a lack of heavy goods vehicle drivers and overseas workers — with the shortfalls largely exacerbated by the Covid pandemic and Brexit, but also due to other factors such as low pay and working conditions.Britain has experienced shortages of fuel at gas stations due to the shortage of specialist tanker drivers, while farmers are warning that tons of food produce could go to waste, and thousands of animals may have to be destroyed as there are not enough farm or abattoir workers to process the meat.The labor shortage has highlighted how dependent Britain has been on overseas, seasonal workers.Read more: Britain deploys its army to deliver fuel as panic buying and shortages continueFor his part, Johnson — a politician often accused by his critics of loving a soundbite but lacking an eye for detail and planning — has been accused of not recognizing the seriousness of the situation.cnbc.com