Johnson sparks fury after comparing Ukraine invation to Brexit

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been criticised for comparing the struggle of Ukrainians fighting Russia’s invasion to people in Britain voting for Brexit.

In a speech, he said Britons, like Ukrainians, had the instinct “to choose freedom” and cited the 2016 vote to leave the EU as a “recent example”.

The comments have caused anger among politicians both in the UK and Europe.

Donald Tusk, the former president of the European Council, called the comments offensive.

Conservative peer Lord Barwell said voting in a referendum was not “in any way comparable with risking your life” in a war, while Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said it was an “insult” to Ukrainians.

The row comes as Mr. Johnson has given an interview with the Sunday Times, strongly urging China to condemn the Russian invasion. He suggested Beijing was having “second thoughts” about its neutral stance.

Mr. Johnson made his comments likening the Ukrainians’ fight to Brexit in a speech to the Conservative Party’s spring conference in Blackpool on Saturday.

He said: “I know that it’s the instinct of the people of this country, like the people of Ukraine, to choose freedom, every time. I can give you a couple of famous recent examples.

“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.”

Mr. Johnson also cited as an example British people choosing to get vaccinated against coronavirus because they “wanted to get on with their lives” and “we’re fed up with being told what to do by people like me”.

But his remarks, intended to rally the Tory faithful, have attracted criticism from political figures in the UK and Europe.

Donald Tusk, the ex-president of the European Council, tweeted: “Boris, your words offend Ukrainians, the British, and common sense.”

Guy Verhofstadt, the former prime minister of Belgium who was the European Parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator, said the comparison was “insane”.

But asked about linking the plight of Ukraine to Brexit, Chancellor Rishi Sunak told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme: “I don’t think the prime minister was making a direct comparison between these two things – clearly they’re not directly analogous.”

“He was making some general observations about people’s desire for freedom,” he added.

Mr Sunak said the prime minister had been galvanising global opinion to send a strong message to Vladimir Putin, and “that’s the thing we should be focused on”.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves called for the prime minister to withdraw his comments and apologise.

She told the BBC: “The people of Ukraine, who are fighting for their lives – in any way to draw a parallel to voting to leave the European Union, it is shameless.”

She pointed out that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wanted to join the EU – and that “he clearly sees no such parallel”.