WHILST pledging a further half-a-billion pounds cash for the Ukrainian army yesterday, Tory PM Boris Johnson said that rising prices at home are ‘a price worth paying’, because the price of Russia succeeding is ‘far higher’.
He called the massive inflation that has reduced millions in the UK to one meal a day, ‘the price of freedom’.
Speaking at the G7 summit in Germany, Johnson warned capitalist world leaders that they must remain united with Kiev despite ‘war fatigue’ and rampant inflation.
Allies are ‘making the sacrifice’ over rising food and energy costs, Johnson said, because ‘the price of freedom is worth paying’.
It is the working class that is being sacrificed!
After leaving Germany, Johnson is due in Madrid for a NATO summit and is then returning to the UK on Thursday to face the music. He has been out of the country for over a week since the Tories lost two by-elections last Thursday by many thousands of votes.
Johnson rejected calls to resign, saying he is focused on the cost of living, the economy and ‘standing up to violence and aggression’ in Ukraine.
Speaking in the Bavarian Alps where the G7 summit is being held, Johnson said leaders are discussing how to keep the anti-Russian coalition together ‘at a time when realistically there is going to be fatigue among populations and politicians’.
He said NATO and the G7 continue to be ‘solid’ in their stand against Russian President Vladimir Putin, but to protect that unity they must have ‘really, really honest discussions’ about the pressures each nation is under.
Johnson gave the example of Germany, which is taking emergency measures after Russia cut gas supplies, saying: ‘They’re making the effort, they’re making the sacrifice. That’s because they see the price of freedom is worth paying.’
He said: ‘The price of backing down, of allowing President Putin to hack off parts of Ukraine, to continue with his programme of conquest – that price will be far, far higher and everyone here understands that.’
Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the G7 countries – UK, US, Canada, Japan, France, Germany and Italy – via videolink yesterday, urgently asking for cash, warning that Ukraine could run out of funding by the autumn without further support.
Johnson is pledging £429m on behalf of the UK, taking its package of economic support for Ukraine to £1.5bn.
Ahead of the summit, Johnson said the UK, Canada, the US and Japan are banning imports of Russian gold, saying the move will ‘directly hit Russian oligarchs and strike at the heart of Putin’s war machine’.
At the NATO summit, Johnson is pushing for increased defence spending across the alliance and support for Sweden and Finland joining the organisation.
