Boris likens war to the Brexit fight
BORIS Johnson yesterday compared the Ukrainian people’s fight for freedom to British people voting for Brexit.
Speaking at the Tory spring conference in Blackpool, the Prime Minister said it was “the instinct of the people of this country, like the people of Ukraine, to choose freedom every time”.
He gave as an example when the British people voted for Brexit in large numbers.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko, was sitting in the front row of the Winter Gardens conference hall when Mr Johnson made the comparison.
He also compared resistance to “wokeness” to the conflict, saying: “We don’t need to be woke. We just want to be free, and that’s why talented people are fleeing Russia quite frankly right now.”
Tyranny
Mr Johnson said Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine because he was in a total panic about the prospect of a popular uprising in Moscow if freedom was allowed to flourish in Kyiv.
And he said the war was a turning point for the world, forcing countries to stand up to Russia rather than making accommodations with tyranny.
Earlier, Home Secretary Priti
Patel defended stringent checks on Ukrainians fleeing the conflict to the UK.
She argued that some refugees could be Russian agents carrying biological weapons.
And Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK helping Ukraine stand up for itself should end woke debates in this country.
“This is what is important, this is what matters,” she said.
“We have to be proud of our country and our longstanding commitment to freedom and democracy.
“Now is the time to end the culture of self-doubt, the constant self-questioning and introspection the ludicrous debates about languages, statues and pronouns.
“Our history, warts and all, is what makes us what we are today.”