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Tag: Boris Johnson

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments Ahead of His Visit to India

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments Ahead of His Visit to India

    The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 17 April 2022.

    As we face threats to our peace and prosperity from autocratic states, it is vital that democracies and friends stick together. India, as a major economic power and the world’s largest democracy, is a highly valued strategic partner for the UK in these uncertain times.

    My visit to India will deliver on the things that really matter to the people of both our nations – from job creation and economic growth, to energy security and defence.

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Speech on Tackling Illegal Migration

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Speech on Tackling Illegal Migration

    The speech made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 14 April 2022.

    For centuries, our United Kingdom has had a proud history of welcoming people from overseas, including many fleeing persecution.

    My own great-grandfather came from Turkey in fear of his life, because our country offered sanctuary for his outspoken journalism.

    And when you look back over the centuries as people have come seeking refuge or simply in search of somewhere to build a better life, you see this is the very stuff our history is made of.

    From the French Huguenots, to the Jewish refugees from Tsarist Russia, to the docking of the Empire Windrush, to the South Asians fleeing East Africa, to the many, many others who have come from different countries at different times for different reasons, all have wanted to be here because our United Kingdom is a beacon of openness and generosity, and all in turn have contributed magnificently to the amazing story of the UK.

    Today that proud history of safe and legal migration is ultimately responsible for many of those working in our hospitals and on the front line of our response to the pandemic, for more than 60 per cent of the England football team at the final of Euro 2020, for many of our country’s leading figures in the worlds of business, art and culture, and, I’m pleased to say, for ever growing numbers of people serving in public life, including colleagues of mine like Nadhim Zahawi who escaped with his family from Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, Dominic Raab, whose Jewish father came to Britain from Czechoslovakia to escape Nazi Germany, and Priti Patel, whose family fled persecution in Uganda.

    So I’m proud that this government has continued the great British tradition of providing sanctuary to those in need, in fact, doing more to resettle vulnerable people in the UK – through safe and legal routes – than any other government in recent history.

    Since 2015 we have offered a place to over 185,000 men, women and children seeking refuge, more than the entire population of Sunderland and more than any other similar resettlement schemes in Europe.

    This includes almost 100,000 British Nationals Overseas threatened by draconian security laws in Hong Kong, 20,000 through our Syrian scheme, 13,000 from Afghanistan and to whom we owe debts of honour, and around 50,000 Ukrainians.

    And we are not only supporting British nationals and those settled in the UK to bring potentially hundreds of thousands of their extended family from Ukraine, we are also welcoming unlimited numbers of refugees from that conflict, as the British people open their homes, in one of the biggest movements of refugees to this country that we have ever known.

    And as we work with local authorities and the devolved administrations to welcome those coming from Ukraine into our communities, we will also find accommodation across our whole United Kingdom for all those who have come here previously but who are currently in hotels, because it makes absolutely no sense for the taxpayer to foot those bills, running to almost £5 million a day, with the sum total of those we accommodate being concentrated in just a third of local authorities.

    It is controlled immigration, through safe and legal routes, which enables us to make generous offers of sanctuary while managing the inevitable pressures on our public services such that we can give all those who come here the support they need to rebuild their lives, to integrate and to thrive.

    But the quid pro quo for this generosity, is that we cannot sustain a parallel illegal system.

    Our compassion may be infinite, but our capacity to help people is not.

    We can’t ask the British taxpayer to write a blank cheque to cover the costs of anyone who might want to come and live here.

    Uncontrolled immigration creates unmanageable demands on our NHS and our welfare state, it overstretches our local schools, our housing and public transport, and creates unsustainable pressure to build on precious green spaces.

    Nor is it fair on those who are seeking to come here legally, if others can just bypass the system.

    It’s a striking fact that around seven out of ten of those arriving in small boats last year were men under 40, paying people smugglers to queue jump and taking up our capacity to help genuine women and child refugees.

    This is particularly perverse as those attempting crossings, are not directly fleeing imminent peril as is the intended purpose of our asylum system.

    They have passed through manifestly safe countries, including many in Europe, where they could – and should – have claimed asylum.

    It is this rank unfairness of a system that can be exploited by gangs, which risks eroding public support for the whole concept of asylum.

    The British people voted several times to control our borders, not to close them, but to control them.

    So just as Brexit allowed us to take back control of legal immigration by replacing free movement with our points-based system, we are also taking back control of illegal immigration, with a long-term plan for asylum in this country.

    It is a plan that will ensure the UK has a world-leading asylum offer, providing generous protection to those directly fleeing the worst of humanity, by settling thousands of people every year through safe and legal routes.

    And I emphasise this. So whether you are fleeing Putin or Assad, our aim is that you should not need to turn to the people smugglers or any other kind of illegal option.

    But to deliver it, we must first ensure that the only route to asylum in the UK is a safe and legal one, and that those who try to jump the queue, or abuse our system, will find no automatic path to settlement in our country, but rather be swiftly and humanely removed to a safe third country or their country of origin.

    And the most tragic of all forms of illegal migration, which we must end with this approach, is the barbaric trade in human misery conducted by the people smugglers in the Channel.

    Before Christmas 27 people drowned, and in the weeks ahead there could be many more losing their lives at sea, and whose bodies may never be recovered.

    Around 600 came across the Channel yesterday. In just a few weeks this could again reach a thousand a day.

    I accept that these people – whether 600 or one thousand – are in search of a better life; the opportunities that the United Kingdom provides and the hope of a fresh start.

    But it is these hopes – those dreams – that have been exploited.

    These vile people smugglers are abusing the vulnerable and turning the Channel into a watery graveyard, with men, women and children, drowning in unseaworthy boats, and suffocating in refrigerated lorries.

    And even if they do make it here, we know only too well some of the horrendous stories of exploitation over the years, from the nail bars of East London to the cockle beds of Morecambe Bay, as illegal migration makes people more vulnerable to the brutal abuse of ruthless gangs.

    So we must halt this appalling trade and defeat the people smugglers.

    That is why we are passing the Nationality and Borders Bill, which allows us for the first time to distinguish between people coming here legally and illegally, and for this distinction to affect how your asylum claim progresses and your status in the UK if that claim is successful.

    It will enable us to issue visa penalties against those countries that refuse to accept returns of foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers.

    It will clean up the abuse of our legal system, introducing a one-stop shop that will end the cycle of last minute and vexatious claims and appeals that so often thwart or delay removals.

    And it will end the absurd practice of asylum-seeking adults claiming to be children to strengthen their claims and access better services.

    Crucially it will also allow us to prosecute those who arrive illegally, with life sentences for anyone piloting the boats. And to identify, intercept and investigate these boats, from today the Royal Navy will take over operational command from Border Force in the Channel, taking primacy for our operational response at sea, in line with many of our international partners, with the aim that no boat makes it to the UK undetected.

    This will be supported with £50 million of new funding for new boats, aerial surveillance and military personnel in addition to the existing taskforce of patrol vessels, Wildcat helicopters, search and rescue aircraft, drones and remotely piloted aircraft.

    This will send a clear message to those piloting the boats: if you risk other people’s lives in the Channel, you risk spending your own life in prison.

    People who do make it to the UK will be taken not to hotels at vast public expense, rather they will be housed in accommodation centres like those in Greece, with the first of these open shortly.

    At the same time, we are expanding our immigration detention facilities, to assist with the removal of those with no right to remain in the UK.

    We are investing over half a billion pounds in these efforts.

    And this is on top of overhauling our arrivals infrastructure here in Kent, with new processing facilities now operational at Western Jet Foil and Manston.

    But we need to go still further in breaking the business model of these gangs.

    So from today, our new Migration and Economic Development Partnership will mean that anyone entering the UK illegally – as well as those who have arrived illegally since January 1st – may now be relocated to Rwanda.

    This innovative approach – driven our shared humanitarian impulse and made possible by Brexit freedoms – will provide safe and legal routes for asylum, while disrupting the business model of the gangs, because it means that economic migrants taking advantage of the asylum system will not get to stay in the UK, while those in genuine need will be properly protected, including with access to legal services on arrival in Rwanda, and given the opportunity to build a new life in that dynamic country, supported by the funding we are providing.

    The deal we have done is uncapped and Rwanda will have the capacity to resettle tens of thousands of people in the years ahead.

    And let’s be clear, Rwanda is one of the safest countries in the world, globally recognised for its record on welcoming and integrating migrants.

    Later this year it will welcome leaders from across the Commonwealth, and before the pandemic, in 2018, the IMF said Rwanda was the world’s fourth fastest growing economy.

    We are confident that our new Migration Partnership is fully compliant with our international legal obligations, but nevertheless we expect this will be challenged in the courts, and if this country is seen as a soft touch for illegal migration by some of our partners, it is precisely because we have such a formidable army of politically motivated lawyers who for years who have made it their business to thwart removals and frustrate the Government.

    So I know that this system will not take effect overnight, but I promise that we will do whatever it takes to deliver this new approach, initially within the limits of the existing legal and constitutional frameworks, but also prepared to explore any and all further legal reforms which may be necessary.

    Because this problem has bedevilled our country for too long and caused far too much human suffering and tragedy, and this is the government that refuses to duck the difficult decisions, this is the government that makes the big calls, and I profoundly believe there is simply no other option.

    And I say to those who would criticise our plan today, we have a plan; what is your alternative?

    I know there are some who believe we should just turn these boats back at sea.

    But after much study and consultation – including with Border Force, the police, national crime agency, military and maritime experts, to whom I pay tribute for all the incredible work that they do dealing with this problem as things stand – it’s clear that there are extremely limited circumstances when you can safely do this in the English Channel.

    And it doesn’t help that this approach, I don’t think, would be supported by our French partners, and relying solely on this course of action is simply not practical in my view.

    I know there are others who would say that we should just negotiate a deal with France and the EU.

    And we have made repeated and generous offers to our French friends and we will continue to press them and the EU for the comprehensive returns agreement that would solve this problem.

    We remain grateful to the gendarmes on the beach, for the joint intelligence work and the co-operation that has stopped thousands of boats.

    We would like to deepen that work and we continue to believe that a deal with France and the EU is in the national interest of all our countries.

    But we must have our own framework for full sovereignty over our borders and we must find a way to stop these boats now, not lose thousands more lives while waiting for a deal that just doesn’t exist.

    And I know there will be a vocal minority who will think these measures are draconian and lacking in compassion. I simply don’t agree.

    There is no humanity or compassion in allowing desperate and innocent people to have their dreams of a better life exploited by ruthless gangs, as they are taken to their deaths in unseaworthy boats.

    And there is no humanity or compassion in endlessly condemning the people smugglers, but then time and again ducking the big calls needed to break the business model of the gangs and stop these boats coming.

    And there is no humanity or compassion in calling for unlimited safe and legal routes, offering the false hope of asylum in the UK to anyone who wants it, because that is just unsustainable.

    There are currently 80 million displaced people in the world, many in failed States where governments can’t meet their aspirations.

    In an era of mobile connectivity they are a call or a text away from potentially being swept up in the tide of people smuggling.

    The answer cannot be for the UK to become the haven for all of them.

    That is a call for open borders by the back door, a political argument masquerading as a humanitarian policy.

    Those in favour of this approach should be honest about it and argue for it openly.

    We reject it, as the British people have consistently rejected it at the ballot box – in favour of controlled immigration.

    We simply cannot have a policy of saying anyone who wants to live here can do so.

    We’ve got to be able to control who comes into this country and the terms on which they remain.

    And we must do this in the spirit of our history of providing refuge.

    And in that way we can more than play our part in offering sanctuary to thousands fleeing persecution.

    But then of course other countries must play their part too.

    And that is what I think is most exciting about the partnership we have agreed with Rwanda today because we believe it will become a new international standard in addressing the challenges of global migration and people smuggling.

    So I am grateful for Rwanda’s leadership and partnership and we stand ready to work with other nations on similar agreements, as well as wider reforms to the international asylum framework.

    As I say, we will continue to work with our French friends to tackle the gangs, we will continue to lead co-operation with crime and intelligence partners across Europe, we will continue to seek a returns agreement with the EU or with France.

    But in the meantime, and for the foreseeable future, we need this new approach.

    The people smugglers are undermining confidence in our borders.

    They are betraying all those who do the right thing, who try to come here legally – through forms of migration or the safe and legal routes provided for refuge.

    They are undermining the natural compassion and goodwill that people have towards refugees in this country.

    And they are endangering human life day after day.

    And though the way ahead will be hard, and though we can expect many challenges and many obstacles to be thrown up against this plan, I believe this plan is the right way forward, because the people smugglers must be stopped in order to save countless lives; and because tackling illegal migration is precisely the way to sustain a safe, legal and generous offer of sanctuary to those in need, that is in the very best traditions of this country and the values we stand for in the world.

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Speech to Conservative Spring Conference

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Speech to Conservative Spring Conference

    The speech made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, in Blackpool on 19 March 2022.

    Good morning, everybody.

    It’s absolutely fantastic to be back here in Blackpool.

    I first spoke here 25 years ago, 1997. I was the freshly defeated candidate for Clwyd South. And I did the appeal. But I didn’t think they could get Jeffrey Archer that day.

    Because we, as you recall, we’d been more or less wiped out. And what a joy it is to come back here today, quarter of a century on and find that we have more Conservative MPs than at any time since the 1980s. And that we not only hold Clwyd South, we hold Blackpool South, my friends.

    As we meet today, a tragedy continues to unfold in our European continent, a vicious and a barbarian attack on innocent civilians, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the 1940s. And, Mr. Ambassador, Sir, there you are. Thank you, Mr. Ambassador, Ukrainian ambassador, I want to repeat to you directly what I told your wonderful president Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday. We stand with the Ukrainian people, and our hearts go out to them.

    And tens of thousands of people in this country are opening our homes, to the people of Ukraine. We say thank you to them, and we applaud them. And with every day that Ukraine’s heroic resistance continues, it is clear that Putin has made a catastrophic mistake.

    And you have to ask yourself why he did it. Why did he decide to invade this totally innocent country? He didn’t really believe that Ukraine was going to join NATO anytime soon. He knew perfectly well, there was no plan to put missiles on Ukrainian soil. He didn’t really believe the semi-mystical guff, he wrote about the origins of the of the Russian people; Nostradamus meets Russian Wikipedia.

    I think that wasn’t what it was about. I think he was frightened of Ukraine for an entirely different reason. He was frightened of Ukraine, because in Ukraine, they have a free press. And in Ukraine, they have free elections. And then with every year that Ukraine progressed, not always easily, towards freedom and democracy and open markets, he feared the Ukrainian example. And he feared the implicit reproach to himself. Because in Putin’s Russia, you get jailed for 15 years, just recalling an invasion, an invasion. And if you stand against Putin in an election, you get poisoned, or shot.

    And it’s precisely – that’s what happens – and it’s precisely because Ukraine and Russia have been so historically close, that he has been terrified of the effect of that Ukrainian model on him and on Russia, and he’s been in a total panic about a so-called “colour revolution” in Moscow itself.

    And that’s why he’s trying so brutally to snuff out the flame of freedom in Ukraine, and that’s why it is so vital that he fails, because a victorious Putin will not stop in Ukraine, and the end of freedom in Ukraine will mean the extinction of any hope of freedom in Georgia and then Moldova – it will mean the beginning of a new age of intimidation across the whole of Eastern Europe, from the Baltic to the Black Sea – and if Putin succeeds in crushing Ukraine, it will be the green light for autocrats everywhere in the Middle East, in the Far East.

    This is a turning point for the world. And it’s a moment of choice. It’s a choice between freedom and oppression. And I know there are some around the world, even in some Western governments who invoke what they call “realpolitik”. And you say that we’re better off making accommodations with tyranny. I have to say I believe they are profoundly wrong. And to try to renormalise relations with Putin, after this, as we did in 2014, would be to make exactly the same mistake again. And that is why, and that is why, Putin must fail.

    And 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. Give you another example, where the British population came forward to be vaccinated at such incredible speed voluntarily. Unlike many other countries, I’m sure it was partly because they wanted to avoid catching Covid, very sensible thing to do – by the way, I hope you’ve all had your boosters – you have? – well we’re getting ready for a fourth jab, because we’re going to need it. But I’ll tell you why people did it. Why? Why did the British people come forward? I mean, 90 percent , we got entirely voluntary. Entirely voluntary. It was because they wanted to get on with their lives. They were fed up with being told what to do, by people like me. They were!

    We wanted to take back control of our lives. And so I’m proud that this government has done the things that so many people said were impossible. We got Brexit done. I’m proud that we delivered the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, not once, but twice and the fastest booster route rollout. And, of course, yes, I am proud that this government has been in the lead in sticking up for freedom in Ukraine. This was the first European country to send defensive weapons to help the Ukrainians. And now dozens are following our lead. And I’m very grateful to my friend Ben Wallace – also there in the front row – for his foresight many months ago. And for getting me to read Putin’s crazy essay, which I did – and we are talking continuously, Liz, Ben and I, we’re talking continuously – to our colleagues in the in the Ukraine support group to discuss what more we can do. And those conversations go on literally every day, and there will be more.

    I’m proud of what we did on sanctions. We were in the lead in sanctioning SWIFT and the banks, certainly banning Aeroflot, we’ve now sanctioned more banks and individuals than any other European country, and we will be detaining their yachts and their assets. And, of course, there is a cost to all these actions. Of course there is, but the cost of doing nothing will be far, far higher. Putin’s war is intended to cause economic damage to the West and to benefit him. And he knows that with every dollar increase in the price of a barrel of oil, he gets billions more in revenues from the sales of oil and gas. And that’s the tragedy of the situation. He’s been preparing for this moment, by pushing hydrocarbons on the west like a back street pusher, feeding our addiction, creating a dependency. And now he wants to weaken the collective will to resist by pushing up the cost of living, hitting us at the pumps, and in our fuel bills. And so we must respond and we’ve got to do everything we can to help people with their daily costs, help people with the cost of living, and, of course, that means doing all the things that we’re doing: lifting the living wage, cutting council tax bills, helping with fuel costs, giving billions to councils, millions more to help people in particular hardship.

    The best possible answer, of course, is to make sure that this is the traditional Conservative answer to make sure that we have a strong economy and strong economic fundamentals with well paid jobs. And thanks to the speed of that booster rollout, we have the fastest growing economy in the G7. Unemployment now actually back to the level it was before the pandemic, virtually a record low, 3.9 per cent, youth unemployment at or near record lows. But if we’re going to deal with a particular cost, the biggest cost that families now face and tackle these rising fuel bills, the energy spike, we must take the bold steps necessary to end our dependence on Putin’s oil and gas.

    And that is what we are doing, in the immortal phrase: it is time to take back control of our energy supplies. After years of short termism and hand-to-mouth solutions, we are setting out a British energy security strategy. And we will make better use of our own naturally occurring hydrocarbons, rather than import them top dollar from abroad and put the money into Putin’s bank account.

    That does not mean in any way that we will abandon our drive for a low carbon future, we’re going to make some bets on nuclear power – and big bets on nuclear power – not just the big projects, but also the small modular reactors. And we’re going to take that bull-at-a-gate spirit of the booster rollout and use it to build more offshore wind, double quick time, and many other investments in clean green power. But if you ask me how we’re going to pay for all this, I can tell you that I’ve been going around the world recently, and I’ve been talking to international investors who are yearning to make colossal long term investments in British green infrastructure. Colossal. And there’s a reason why people want to come to this country, many, many reasons why they want to come. But you’re seeing them invest massively in everything from tech to finance to green power.

    And that is that they know what this government is doing. They know about – I mean, you may not believe it, but they do – they know about our levelling up agenda, my friends, they do. They’ve heard of it. They have, they’re very well informed. And they know that we have a plan to unleash the potential of this whole country and they can see how we are doing it, making our streets safer with 20,000 more police rounding up the county lines drugs gangs, that cause such misery, stopping and searching the kids with the, with the, knives; giving the police the powers that they need. And by the way, giving the criminals the serious sentences that they deserve for the crimes that they commit. Tackling the middle class use of drugs by the way that helps to drive so much of the consumption but doing things – Thank you for that small clap for that – I think it’s about time that the government stood – that the government said – that we don’t tolerate this kind of… it is driving misery across the whole country. It’s driving the county lines gangs and we have to be absolutely frank about it.

    But what we’re doing goes far beyond that. And people around the world can see what levelling up is: doing the massive extension of fibre optic broadband – and I’m just trying to look for Nadine, where is Nadine, perhaps she isn’t in here? – But, Oliver, you were doing it. Massive expansion when you were at DCMS with full fibre Gigabit broadband. It is a great thing for our country. And we need to do it: we will go further and faster investing massively in road and rail and not just the colossal schemes of the integrated rail plan, northern powerhouse rail, making sure that the Midlands and the North of the country finally get the kind of commuter-style rail networks that have been taken for granted for so long in the South East. Huge schemes that we’re doing: they’ll be transformative for the UK economy – but look at the little things that we’re doing as well – relatively smaller schemes such as the new tram improvements in Blackpool, which I was delighted to see the other day. I congratulate the Blackpool authorities on what they are doing because it’s driving tourism, it’s driving investment – even more investment – here in in Blackpool. That’s what levelling up is.

    I went for a run. You may not believe it, but I did. I went for a run this morning on the beach. Absolutely beautiful. Better than anything in the Caribbean. That is not near-gallantry. It is true. And it’s true – I mean, that time of the morning, 6:45, sun coming up. Unbelievable. Tide right out, ribbed sand stretching for miles and miles, and obviously beautiful. And as I ran along, I saw over new hotels and the new attractions that will benefit from that new transport infrastructure going in – the new tram. Of course, government has a role. Safer streets, better health care, better schools, better education, creating the conditions for that investment. But in the end, you need the private sector. The animal spirits of the private sector to come in and have the confidence to invest. That’s what it’s all about. That’s the fundamental symmetry at the heart of our Conservative vision.

    And as I was running along the sand, I saw a man who seemed to be prospecting with a kind of steel pole, or tube. And I asked him what he was looking for, hydrocarbons perhaps. What do you think he was looking for? Anybody have any idea? I tell you, he wasn’t searching for oil. Well, he was looking for lug worms. And he showed me some lug worms that he had caught. And I will tell you, my friends, the lugworm is not perhaps the most beautiful of God’s creatures. But bigger fish love lugworms. And I want you to know that we Conservatives back everybody in this country who gets up early and invest their time and their skill and their energy and their effort in the hope of a bigger return. You need to use a lugworm to catch a bream, my friends and I have a bream. As they say.

    I have a vision of a one nation conservatism that takes that capitalist spirit and uses it. Uses our wonderful free market system to make sure that we have the revenues further for Rishi Sunak could pay for our fantastic NHS and the 50,000 more nurses and the thousands more doctors that were are hiring, pay for all the wonderful staff who are clearing the COVID backlogs, pay for our defences, pay for Ben Wallace’s troops, pay for our 20,000 more police officers, pay for investment in skills. Like what we’re doing with the Blackpool and Fylde College, the new Multiversity that’s opening – because that is what levelling up is all about. And it is those wonderful public services that create the climate of confidence, which means that private sector investment comes in and it works: this formula for levelling up I believe is right for the whole country. It’s vital to understand this. It’s vital that it works. It works everywhere. By unleashing talent everywhere across the UK – still, under the old model the most imbalanced European economy, by unleashing can everywhere – you stop the overheating and the stress and the overdevelopment, that is a part of the failed economic model, and we take the whole country forward together. That’s what we’re going to do. That’s why Rishi – I think he’s totally right to be driving at a new age of post Brexit entrepreneurialism – tough word to say, you know, but you know what I mean? Low business taxes and other fiscal incentives, the eight new free ports, and all the new freedoms that we’re currently taking, driven by Jacob, who’s our invigilator of these things – to do things differently and do things better? And now that we can – and I think it’s because of the spirit that people can see in this country that we’re seeing a surge of investment in the last few months, another billion just this week from Al Fanar, from Saudi Arabia in Teesside to make green aviation fuel, on top of a billion from Nissan for a Gigafactory, a billion from Mubadala for Life Sciences, 6 billion from Iberdrola Spanish company in East Anglia wind farms, 1.5 billion from Blackstone in labs in the creative sector. The list goes on and on.

    It is absolutely astonishing, a billion here, a billion there, you’re talking about serious money, you’re talking about tens of thousands of high wage, high skilled jobs. And there’s another reason of course, why investors come here. And when they think about the UK, and what it’s going to be like for themselves and their families, they think about the time that they’re going to be spending in the UK, and I tell you something, it is the invincible strength of this country that we believe, by and large, and within the law, that people should be able to do whatever they want, provided they don’t do any harm to anybody else. And that’s called freedom. That’s called freedom. And we don’t need to be woke. We just want to be free. And that’s why talented people are fleeing Russia, quite frankly, right now. And that’s why they’re flocking to the UK.

    And to get back to my theme. That’s Putin’s tragedy. That’s his tragedy there. Actually, there’s a sense in which his disastrous error in Ukraine is itself an argument for democracy and freedom. I mean, seriously, if Putin had a free press, if he had the BBC on his case – I’m deadly serious, he would know, whatever you may think, he would have known the truth or a version of it – he would have known the truth. If he had free, impartial, responsible journalism, let me put it that way. Then he would have known then he would have known the truth that the Ukrainians are a proud, proud nation with a charismatic leader, and he would have known before he set out on this disastrous and inhuman venture that they would fight to defend their homeland. He would have known that, and he wouldn’t have locked himself in this echo chamber of sycophants. On which subject, if Putin had to explain himself to a real parliament, with real backbenchers whom, of course, all leaders must have a very, very lively regard – who had backbenchers they had to justify themselves to every day, to their electors, and of course at elections – you know, I don’t believe that he would have been capable of such a crescendo of disastrous and self-destructive mistakes. Isn’t that the truth?

    Now, I don’t believe that democratic freedoms are going to sprout anytime soon in the Kremlin, far from it, but with every day that passes, I think that Putin becomes a more glaring advertisement for the system that he hates and despises. And it becomes ever more obvious why we have to stick up for Ukraine. And we will. And that’s why we will continue with absolute conviction to stick up for freedom under the law, freedom under the law at home and abroad, even if it means making some tough decisions. We made a tough choice, for instance, over Christmas and New Year to keep going to keep our economy open. When some people said we should go back into lockdown – we made the tough choice to open up last July – when I think that the Labour Party said we were being reckless. Never forget, if we’d listened to Captain Hindsight and the Labour Party – I never tire I’m telling you this, but it’s true – we would still be in lockdown and we would certainly not be seeing the strong growth and employment that we’re seeing today. When the Labour Party and the current leader were trying with might and main to install a leader who wanted – I’m sorry, I’m serious – to abolish NATO, we were already training Ukrainian troops to fight. And it’s an absolutely incredible fact and it’s true – a t a time when Russia is being led by a President who is capable of bullying and threats, who’s plainly capable of making dangerous and irrational decisions – we have a Labour party whose shadow cabinet is stuffed with people who only recently voted to abolish the UK’s independent nuclear deterrent. That’s right. Eight of them. The Shadow Foreign Secretary – unbelievable – the Shadow Levelling-up Secretary, the Shadow Transport Secretary, I can’t get the entire list, but you can find it out. That’s them.

    Do we want them in charge, my friends at this moment? Do we want them running up the white flag? Do you see them standing up to Putin’s blackmail? By the way, in the next few weeks: Do we want them running our councils where we know that up and down the country Labour councils cost you more and Conservatives deliver better services? Do we want them in charge of the economy of this amazing country of ours when there has never been a Labour government that left with unemployment lower than when they arrived? Let me tell you when you go out campaigning in the – in the – next few weeks, as we all will, joyfully. Let me tell you that my message to everybody on the doorstep is that it is Conservatives – it’s Conservatives – who get things done, even when they look difficult, and it’s Conservatives who take the tough decisions to help you, to be on your side, to help you with the cost of living. And it’s Conservatives who stand up for freedom against the blackmail of Vladimir Putin. I’ll tell you why they do it.

    We do it, not out of ideology, because we know through long experience, that it’s only by sticking up for freedom, that we can deliver long term prosperity and security. And that’s what we will deliver together.

    Thank you all very much. And thank you for coming to Spring Conference.

    Thank you.

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments Made on Visit to Kyiv

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments Made on Visit to Kyiv

    The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 9 April 2022.

    It is a privilege to be able to travel to Ukraine and meet President Zelenskyy in person in Kyiv today.

    Ukraine has defied the odds and pushed back Russian forces from the gates of Kyiv, achieving the greatest feat of arms of the 21st century.

    It is because of President Zelenskyy’s resolute leadership and the invincible heroism and courage of the Ukrainian people that Putin’s monstrous aims are being thwarted.

    I made clear today that the United Kingdom stands unwaveringly with them in this ongoing fight, and we are in it for the long run.

    We are stepping up our own military and economic support and convening a global alliance to bring this tragedy to an end, and ensure Ukraine survives and thrives as a free and sovereign nation.

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Speech in Kyiv to Visit President Zelenskyy

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Speech in Kyiv to Visit President Zelenskyy

    The speech made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, in Kyiv on 9 April 2022.

    Thank you very much Volodymyr. Thank you for having me today at this incredibly difficult time for you and your country. I want to begin by once again saluting the bravery of the people of Ukraine in defying the appalling aggression that we have seen. In the last few weeks the world has found new heroes, and those heroes are the people of Ukraine.

    When I was here just a few weeks ago and we were in another room I think in your palace, the defence intelligence we had suggested Russia thought Ukraine could be engulfed in a matter of days and that Kyiv would fall in hours to their armies. And how wrong they were. I think that the Ukrainians have shown the courage of a lion, and you Volodymyr have given the roar of that lion.

    I thank you for what you have been able to do, your leadership has been extraordinary. I think what Putin has done in places like Bucha and Irpin, his war crimes have permanently polluted his reputation and the reputation of his government.

    It’s clear – and we discussed this at length – it’s clear that he has suffered a defeat but his retreat is tactical and he is going to intensify the pressure now in Donbas and in the east.

    That’s why it’s so vital as you rightly say Volodymyr that we, your friends, continue to offer whatever support we can. Together with our partners, we are going to ratchet up the economic pressure and we continue to intensify week by week the sanctions on Russia. Not just freezing assets in banks and sanctioning oligarchs, but moving away from use of Russian hydrocarbons.

    We will give you the support that you need, the economic support but also of course the defensive military support in which I’m proud to say the UK helped to lead the way. Just the other day we raised I think £1.5bn at a donor conference from friends, partners around the world, dozens and dozens of countries that now want to support Ukraine.

    We want to liberalise trade with Ukraine as we go forward to help your economic circumstances, barley and other commodities – there are things we should be doing. We want to help with demining your country, getting rid of the savage traps that the Russian army has left behind.

    To come to your central point Volodymyr, I think we are evolving a vision now for the future. Heraclitus said war is the father of all things – that was an exaggeration, war isn’t the father of everything – but what this war is certainly producing is a clarity about the vision of a future for Ukraine.

    Where together with friends and partners, we – the UK and others – supply the equipment, the technology, the know-how, the intelligence, so that Ukraine will never be invaded again. So Ukraine is so fortified and protected that Ukraine can never be bullied again. Never be blackmailed again. Never be threatened in the same way again.

    In the meantime, there is a huge amount to do to make sure that Ukraine is successful, that Ukraine wins, and that Putin must fail.

    Over the last few hours I’ve been able to see quite a lot of your beautiful country, and it’s an amazing country. I’ve also seen the tragic effects of the war. An inexcusable war, an absolutely inexcusable and unnecessary war.

    But having been here in Kyiv for just a few hours, I have no doubt Volodymyr, listening to too listening to your team, your redoubtable team, I have no doubt at all that an independent sovereign Ukraine will rise again thanks above all to the heroism, the courage of the people of Ukraine. Thank you very much and slava Ukraini [glory to Ukraine].

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments at Press Conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments at Press Conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz

    The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, at Downing Street in London on 8 April 2022.

    Good afternoon. It’s a pleasure to welcome you Olaf to Downing Street.

    The friendship between our two countries has become even more vital since Putin launched his barbaric onslaught against Ukraine, bringing war to our continent.

    I know that Britain and Germany share exactly the same sense of horror and revulsion at the brutality being unleashed, including the unconscionable bombing of refugees fleeing their homes this morning.

    The attack at the train station in eastern Ukraine shows the depths to which Putin’s vaunted army has sunk – at least 39 people killed and dozens wounded on a train platform crowded with women and children.

    Is it a war crime indiscriminately to attack civilians, and Russia’s crimes in Ukraine will not go unnoticed or unpunished.

    Germany and the UK also share exactly the same conviction that Putin must fail in Ukraine.

    Which is why we are working together in the G7 to toughen our sanctions, and target every pillar of the Russian economy, in order to cut off the funds from his war machine.

    The UK and the EU have announced new sanctions this week, and just today we in the UK have imposed new asset freezes and travel bans.

    We will also agree on the importance of weaning ourselves off dependence on Russian gas and oil, and ensuring that our energy security cannot be threatened by a rogue state.

    This is not easy for any of us, and I applaud the seismic decisions taken by Olaf’s government to move Germany away from Russian hydrocarbons.

    Today we have agreed to maximise the potential of the North Sea and collaborate on energy security and on renewables, where Germany and the UK lead the way in new technology.

    We cannot transform our respective energy systems overnight, but we also know that Putin’s war will not end overnight.

    That’s why Britain and Germany have joined dozens of allies to supply Ukraine with defensive weapons. Last week, the UK convened a donor conference which raised weapons and equipment for Ukraine worth over £1.5 billion – or 2.5 million items of military kit.

    Today I can announce that the UK will send a further £100 million worth of high-grade military equipment to Ukraine’s armed forces, including more Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles, which fly at three times the speed of sound, another 800 anti-tank missiles, and precision munitions, capable of lingering in the sky until directed to their target.

    We will also send more helmets, night vision and body armour, on top of the 200,000 pieces of non-lethal military equipment the UK has already dispatched.

    But Olaf and I agree that our two countries and our allies must go further and provide more help to Ukraine. The Europe we knew just six weeks ago no longer exists: Putin’s invasion strikes at the very foundations of the security of our continent.

    But his ambition to divide us has demonstrably failed; on the contrary, he has succeeded in uniting Europe and the whole trans-Atlantic alliance in support of Ukraine, and in strong solidarity with each other.

    Putin has steeled our resolve, sharpened our focus, and he has forced Europe to begin to rearm to guarantee our shared security.

    Britain and Germany will work together to ensure that our Armed Forces are fit for the future, including with our joint effort to manufacture state-of-the-art Boxer armoured vehicles.

    We will hold a joint Cabinet meeting between our two Governments within the next year, our defence ministers will meet before the NATO summit in June, and I look forward to joining you Olaf at Schloss Elmau for the next G7 summit.

    We face the new reality created by Putin’s invasion, I know that Britain and Germany will meet this challenge together, as passionate advocates of democracy and freedom, and both committed friends of Ukraine.

    Thank you.

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Message to the Russian People

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Message to the Russian People

    The message to the Russian people made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 5 April 2022.

    The Russian people deserve the truth, you deserve the facts. [Spoken in Russian]

    The atrocities committed by Russian troops in Bucha, Irpin and elsewhere in Ukraine have horrified the world.

    Civilians massacred – shot dead with their hands tied.

    Women raped in front of their young children.

    Bodies crudely burned, dumped in mass graves, or just left lying in the street.

    The reports are so shocking, so sickening, it’s no wonder your government is seeking to hide them from you.

    Your president knows that if you could see what was happening, you would not support his war.

    He knows that these crimes betray the trust of every Russian mother who proudly waves goodbye to her son as he heads off to join the military.

    And he knows they are a stain on the honour of Russia itself.

    A stain that will only grow larger and more indelible every day this war continues.

    But don’t just take my word for it.

    All you need is VPN connection to access independent information from anywhere in the world.

    And when you find the truth, share it.

    Those responsible will be held to account.

    And history will remember who looked the other way.

    Your president stands accused of committing war crimes. [Spoken in Russian]

    But I cannot believe he’s acting in your name. [Spoken in Russian]

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments on the Health and Social Care Levy

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments on the Health and Social Care Levy

    The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 6 April 2022.

    We must be there for our NHS in the same way that it is there for us. Covid led to the longest waiting lists we’ve ever seen, so we will deliver millions more scans, checks and operations in the biggest catch-up programme in the NHS’ history.

    We know this won’t be a quick fix, and we know that we can’t fix waiting lists without fixing social care. Our reforms will end the cruel lottery of spiralling and unpredictable care costs once and for all and bring the NHS and social care closer together. The Levy is the necessary, fair and responsible next step, providing our health and care system with the long term funding it needs as we recover from the pandemic.

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Statement at NATO Press Conference

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Statement at NATO Press Conference

    The statement made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, in Brussels on 24 March 2022.

    It is scarcely believable as we stand here today that just a month ago, the Ukrainian people were living ordinary, peaceful lives. Now, they are locked in an extraordinary battle for survival against an unprovoked onslaught from their neighbours.

    Ukrainians have taken up the fight and taught the world the meaning of bravery. Against the odds, they have snarled up Russia’s invading army, inflicting defeat after defeat. The heroism of Ukraine has changed the geopolitics of Europe.

    Vladimir Putin has badly miscalculated in Ukraine, and I believe he knows it. But now that Putin’s Plan A has foundered, he is already escalating by intensifying his attacks on civilians.

    Maternity wards, schools and homes and have been bombed without any regard for civilian life. Families are being starved out in freezing basement shelters, and targeted as they flee.

    The United Kingdom – and our allies in NATO and the G7 here today – are clear: we will not stand by while Putin vents his fury on Ukraine.

    I have rarely seen our nations more united in recent years than we are now. Putin’s failure in Ukraine is vital for the peace and prosperity of all of us, and his barbaric invasion has galvanised the international community into collective action.

    We will work with likeminded allies to ramp up lethal aid to Ukraine at scale, providing kit to President Zelenskyy in the quantity and with the quality and quantity that he needs to defend his country from its bullying neighbour.

    Today, I have announced we in the UK will send an additional 6,000 missiles and provide £25 million in unrestricted funding for Ukraine’s armed forces, more than doubling the lethal aid we have provided to date.

    We are bolstering our support for the NATO countries on the frontline, sending a new deployment of UK troops to Bulgaria on top of the doubling our troops both in Poland and in Estonia.

    This is just the beginning. We must support a free and democratic Ukraine in the long term. This is a fellow European democracy fighting a war of national defence.

    NATO and G7 leaders were also united today in our determination to continue turning the screws on the Kremlin’s war machine, including by weaning ourselves off Russian oil and gas and reshaping global energy security.

    The UK has already hit over 1,000 Russian individuals and entities in our toughest-ever sanctions, and the Foreign Secretary has announced 65 new sanctions against Russian banks, weapons manufacturers and oligarchs just this morning.

    I also discussed the humanitarian response with our allies and partners today, as we continue to see huge numbers of Ukrainians flee their homes.

    And the message that President Putin can take from today’s extraordinary meeting of NATO and the G7 is this: Ukraine is not alone.

    We stand with the people of Kyiv, of Mairupol, of Lviv and Donetsk. And as President Zelenskyy has said himself – the people of Ukraine will prevail and Putin must fail and he will fail.

  • Boris Johnson – 2022 Statement on the Covid-19 Inquiry

    Boris Johnson – 2022 Statement on the Covid-19 Inquiry

    The statement made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, in the House of Commons on 10 March 2022.

    On 15 December I announced the appointment of the right hon. Baroness Heather Hallett DBE as chair of the forthcoming public inquiry into the covid-19 pandemic. In doing so, I made a commitment to consult Baroness Hallett and Ministers in the devolved Administrations on the terms of reference for the inquiry before publishing them in draft. This process is now complete, and I have today placed a copy of the draft terms of reference in the Library of the House and published them on gov.uk.

    The terms of reference cover: preparedness; the public health response; the response in the health and care sector; and our economic response. Rightly, the terms of reference allow for an inquiry which is genuinely UK-wide, but which respects and does not duplicate any inquiry established on a devolved basis. Finally, the draft reflects the importance of the inquiry working to understand the experiences of those most affected by the pandemic—including bereaved families—as well as looking at any disparities evident in the impact of the pandemic and our response.

    The inquiry will play a key role in learning the lessons from this terrible pandemic and in informing our preparations for the future. It is therefore vital that we get its terms of reference right and that people can have their say. To deliver this, Baroness Hallett will now lead a period of public engagement and consultation, which will last for four weeks. This process will inform further refinements to the terms of reference before they are finalised and the inquiry begins its important work.