Boris Johnson compares Ukrainian resistance to invasion to Brexit vote

The Prime Minister said it was the instinct of Brits to “choose freedom,” just as it was the Ukrainian instinct to resist invasion. 

Boris Johnson has come under fire for comparing the UK vote on Brexit to those impacted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, speaking at the Conservative Party’s spring conference.

“When the British people voted for Brexit in such large, large numbers, I don’t believe it was because they were remotely hostile to foreigners. It’s because they wanted to be free to do things differently and for this country to be able to run itself,” he told the crowd at Blackpool.

The Prime Minister also said the government must do “everything we can to help people” in the face of soaring energy prices.

A cost of living crisis is looming across the country with households bracing for a 54 per cent hike to energy bills as well as a National Insurance rise from next month.

Johnson has said the UK’s speedy Covid vaccine rollout can be used as a model for a rapid wind farm building scheme.

He also pledged “colossal” investment in renewable energy in a bid to protect the country from international energy price hikes.

Vladimir Putin was attempting to “weaken the collective will to resist” the attack on Kyiv by “pushing up the cost of living, hitting us at the pumps and in our fuel bills,” Johnson said.

The PM added: “And so we must respond. We’ve got to do everything we can to help people with their daily costs, help people with the cost of living.”