British Prime Minister, Boris Johnsonis facing criticism from various quarters after comparing the plight of Ukrainians fighting Russian attacks to the choice the British made in 2016 to support Brexit.
The Conservative politician made the unfortunate comments during a speech on the sidelines of the Tory Party’s spring conference yesterday in the English city of Blackpool.
In his speech, Johnson stated that “the instinct of the people of this country (the United Kingdom), like the people in Ukraine, is to choose freedom”, with the vote in favor of Brexit being “the famous recent example”.
“When so many Britons voted for Brexit, I don’t think it was because they were remotely hostile to foreigners. It’s because they wanted to be free to do things differently and so that this country could govern itself,” he said.
rain of criticism
The local media today collect the barrage of criticism from different sectors that charge against the head of the Executive, such as the conservative Lord Barwellwhich reminded Johnson that the Ukrainians “are seeking to join the European Union (EU)“.
Lord Barwell, who worked as head of staff at Downing Street – the prime minister’s official residence and office – when Tory Theresa May ruled, clarified on Twitter that voting in the 2016 European referendum “is in no way comparable to risk your life” in a war with the forces of Vladimir Putin.
Barwell made the comparison ugly for two reasons: “by the fact that voting in a free and fair referendum is in no way comparable to risk your life to defend your country against an invasion” and also because of the fact that “Ukrainians are fighting for the freedom to join the EU”.
For his part, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Daveyconsidered that Johnson is “a national embarrassment” and that “comparing a referendum to women and children fleeing Putin’s bombs is an insult to all Ukrainians.”
For the leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party in Westminster, Ian BlackfordJohnson’s comments “comparing the life and death situation in Ukraine with Brextil is in bad taste and shows what dangerously obsessed What are the Tories doing with Brexit?
Outside this country, also the former president of the European Council, Donald Tuskbelieved that the words of the British Prime Minister “offend the Ukrainians, the British and common sense“.
“Boris Johnson equals the struggle of the Ukrainians to the British vote for Brexit,” says the former Polish prime minister, who still remembers the “enthusiasm of (Vladimir) Putin and (Donald) Trump after the referendum.” For the former Belgian Prime Minister, Guy Verhofstadtthe comparison is “crazy“.
Source: Lasexta
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
