Brexit and Ukraine comparison by Boris Johnson was crass as Europe joins condemnation of insensitive Prime Minister – The Yorkshire Post says

The Prime Minister was addressing the Tory spring conference in Blackpool and clearly wanted to appease party activists as he looks to shore up his premiership that, weeks ago, was on the brink of collapse over the “partygate” scandal until Russia’s tyrant Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine.

Ukraine: Refugee journeys of fear to escape harrowing realities of war - Christa Ackroyd

Yet the two issues of ‘freedom’ are not comparable. Brexit – and Britain’s decision in the 2016 referendum to vote narrowly to leave the European Union – was, like it or not, an exercise in democracy. In Ukraine, its people are giving up their lives to fight for the sovereignty of their besieged country against Putin’s merciless war machine.

What Mr Johnson could have been highlighting is how Britain and the European Union have, despite Brexit, been working together on the imposition of sanctions against Russian oligarchs, the supply of defensive weapons to Ukrainians and that the UK intends to do even more to help stricken refugees in the coming days.

Now is not the time, however, to be sparking unnecessary outrage across Britain – and also Europe – that detracts from the steps already taken by Downing Street in response to the courageous leadership being shown by Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s extraordinary president.

As is so often the case, the worst of times invariably bring out the best in humanity and this is evidenced by both the aid convoys from Yorkshire, and across Britain, now heading to the war zone, and all those families volunteering to house refugees. For Mr Johnson’s benefit, this has nothing to do with Brexit. It’s about this country’s compassion for the most vulnerable and its solidarity with a country under military attack because of Putin’s totally senseless war.

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